His New York Skyline
by castlenova
Summary: Post-Always. Beckett and Castle deal with the aftermath of Always, including new information and developments that can lead to the person behind Johanna Beckett's murder. That story ends here but for Castle and Beckett a new one begins. Started as a one-shot but has grown plot legs. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

_So there's probably like a million of these already but I couldn't resist writing yet another one._

His New York Skyline

Her eyes fluttered open as the morning sun split through the curtains in the room. She felt at peace, comfortable in his arms, wrapped in the sheets of his bed. She sighed, her hand softly stroking his which was angled up her body, elbow at her abdomen, hand covering her heart.

He'd paid attention to her scar with both his hands and mouth last night, tasting it as if his breath and tongue could cure it, make it disappear even. She closed her eyes as she thought of everything that had lead up to this present moment – his breathlessness after their first kiss but his reluctance to give in to her until he was sure. She supposed she should have been insulted but on the other hand couldn't blame him. She had jerked him around long enough for him to have earned the right to protect his own heart.

"Thank you," she whispered suddenly, pulling his hand up to place a kiss on his knuckles. He shifted behind her, his nose nuzzling into the back of her neck.

"Mmmm, for what?" he asked groggily, tightening his grip around her and she smiled at that. He'd been the same last night, wrapping her up tight as if to prevent her from escaping.

"For giving me one more chance," she said, pulling from his grasp slightly to turn in his arms and face him. He had a look of pure love on his face. As she settled in his arms again, he tilted his head and kissed her softly.

"Kate…not that I want you to test this theory but, you'll always have one last chance with me," he said pointedly and she frowned, inviting him to explain. He stifled back a yawn and apologised, saying he hadn't had much sleep the night before.

"I wonder whose fault that was…" Beckett smiled and he kissed her again before she pushed him again for an answer to her question. He smirked and ran his hand down her bare arm before speaking.

"Because, honestly, _you_ are _my _last chance, Kate. My last opportunity for happiness, there's no going back or moving on from you. I love you and, God help me, regardless of last night that would still have been true today and tomorrow and the day after that…" He shook his head, trailing off, not sure if he should or could continue talking when she was looking at him with such love in her eyes. Now all he needed was to hear her say it.

She snuggled closer to him, her nail scratching his chest and she placed a soft kiss over his heart.

"I'm sorry it took so long for me to get here," she said against his skin and he chuckled, tipping her chin up with his finger to face him.

"Stop being sorry," he said simply as he kissed her again¸ shifting to pull her on top of him but her groan, which was clearly of pain rather than anything else, stopped him in his tracks. He raised an eyebrow.

"Are they Castle-inflicted injuries or other?" he asked, realising suddenly that she hadn't even told him what had happened, just that she had almost died and her last thoughts would have been of him. She let her head hit the pillow next to his.

"Other," she said, sighing and he turned onto his side. He ran a bare hand down her body, creeping around to the small of her back, stopping when he saw her flinch. He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I nearly fell off a roof. In fact I did. I was gone, my second hand had given way and only for Ryan had gone against my orders, I was dead. While I was hanging there I, I heard you…" she added quickly, knowing how ridiculous it sounded. He lifted his head.

"You heard me?" It was only after he said it that he realised how apt it was. She did too. Telling him she'd heard him when she hadn't at all and denying hearing him when she had. She almost laughed at her subconscious' befuddlement.

"Yeah. When it struck me that I was going to fall, I was going to die, all I could think about was you and how I'd let you slip away, how I'd screwed up the best thing in my life. Then I heard your voice calling me. It was Ryan, but all I could hear was you and I just started screaming your name over and over at the top of my voice…" she took a deep breath.

"Are you sure you weren't just practicing for last night?" he joked and she slapped his bare chest, stifling back a laugh. They remained in companionable silence for a moment.

"I resigned Castle," she said finally and he looked at her. She nodded her head and he shifted slightly where he lay, pulling her closer to him, inviting her once again without words to elaborate, knowing that anything he could say either way would just irritate or confuse her more. He knew her well enough to know that when she was offering these kind of insights, it was best to let her and her alone speak.

"Gates suspended us, me and Javi. But as I was handing over the badge I just, I got this blinding flash of sense. I don't want any of it anymore Castle, the force, my mother's killer, nothing. I just want you. I love you," she said finally, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe it herself. In reality, she couldn't believe she had finally swallowed her fear to tell him how she felt. She hadn't yet told him everything he meant to her but telling him this was a start.

The sweetness of the kiss that followed almost made her tear up again. She moved for him as he settled himself between her legs again, as he had done last night. His hands trailed her sides and along her thigh softly. It was tender and featherlike. When she'd arrived at his place last night, she'd been prepared for frantic, passionate sex. She'd been hoping for it almost. But his way had been so much better, so much more meaningful and so much more emotionally driven. He was the same this time and as he pushed into her slowly, her head fell back against the pillow and he kissed her neck, flicking his tongue out to taste her before his mouth found hers in a deep kiss.

"I love you," he mumbled against her lips as he began to move inside her, soft and slow at first before he became a little faster and harder, never straying into bed rattling though. Slowly, carefully and patiently he wound her up to her inevitable climax, capturing her mouth in a deep kiss as she writhed beneath him, strangled whimpers and moans escaping her mouth as she came. The feel of her tightening around him brought him off with her and they kissed through both of their climaxes.

Castle was vaguely aware of whispering a few sweet nothings in her ear before sleep overtook him again.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

When he woke, the bed was cold next to him and the room was fully bright. Sitting up, he saw her, standing naked, uncaring in front of his window. He smiled. No one would see her up this high other than the birds. He wondered if she was looking down, developing her own fear of heights after her near death experience the day before.

"The New York skyline has never, ever looked this good before," he quipped, grinning when she turned around to face him. She smiled.

"Think I should become a permanent fixture in it?" she asked as she reached down to pick up his shirt off the ground, putting it on despite his groan of protest. He moved down the bed to help her button it up, sheets gathered around his waist, kissing her neck as he did, pulling her down to sit on the edge of the bed.

"No, because then everyone would see you, and I'm the only one who's allowed," he said sulkily, like a child making rules about who can play with his toys. She smiled, nodding her head against his. His teeth found her shoulder and nipped playfully at her, sucking at the skin, marking her but she didn't seem to care.

"So, what Castle? You're saying no one else is allowed to look at me?" she bit her lip and he leaned forward to nip the protruding lip between his.

"Not exactly. What I meant was I don't want your naked self becoming a permanent fixture in the New York skyline, even though I'd rather stare at you than the Chrysler any day of the week…" he kissed the juncture where her neck joined with her spine, opening his mouth to taste her with his tongue. His other hand swept down the front of her shirt to her lap, sliding his hand between her legs, causing her to gasp under his lips. He grinned.

"Of course, if you don't have a problem with every guy in the city having a hard-on the _size_ of the Chrysler then I guess it's your choice…" he nipped at her ear lobe and slipped one finger between her folds, making her arch her back forward. He smirked.

"I'm only interested in your Chrysler, Castle," she said breathlessly, letting her head fall sideways onto his shoulder as he slipped another finger into her, his thumb resting on her clitoris. He didn't move it, just left it placed right there on her while he moved his fingers inside her.

"Oh God, Castle…" she whimpered, lifting her hips to meet his movements. He chuckled and told her to have patience. She twisted her neck and kissed him hard on the mouth, just as they heard the front door slam. They broke apart immediately. She shot him a look.

"Alexis," he said quietly before stepping from the bed and quickly pulling on a nearby sweatpants and t-shirt. He fished a second pair from his drawer and passed them to her to go with the too big shirt she already wore.

"I'll go talk to her. Give me ten, fifteen minutes?" he said, leaning down over her body. She nodded her head and kissed him before he left the room, with the single thought that this woman would kill him, as he did.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Alexis was in the kitchen, looting the fridge when he emerged from the study. He stood by the doorway and watched as she pulled frozen food stuffs from the fridge, leaving them alongside her.

"Not even gone yet and you're already raiding the freezer. You are already a university student and you haven't even left yet," he chuckled when she jumped, dropping a bag of frozen waffles on the floor.

"God dad! You scared the hell out of me, I thought you were out."

He smirked, moving to catch his daughter in a headlock, pulling her in for a hug.

"How was your night?" he asked, taking a brief sniff as he pulled her close. No smell of alcohol. That didn't surprise him one bit.

"Great, it's only really beginning. We stayed up all night at the party, it was amazing. We're going for lunch now, then back to Paige's house for a movie night so I'm bringing over some food, ok?"

Castle raised his eyebrows, listening but catching only half of what she was saying.

"It's lunchtime?" he said finally and Alexis frowned.

"Eh, yeah. Did you console yourself in a bottle of scotch last night Father?" she asked in a joking yet worried tone. She knew he had cut loose from the NYPD and knew that it would affect him more than he let on. As much as she was annoyed at Beckett for how she lead him on, she also knew her dad would take forever to get over letting her go.

"Uh no, not exactly. I want to talk to you before you take off again…" he said, finding his sense of decisiveness return. She nodded her head and stepped back from the fridge, pushing all of her pilfered belongings together in a pile next to it.

He took a deep breath, leaning back against the counter. He bit his bottom lip between his teeth before realising that it was what the woman currently in his bed did whenever she was nervous.

"Kate's here," he said finally. Alexis nodded. He continued, slowly, as if he was explaining his actions to an angry parent or teacher, "She came over last night and we talked," (Lie, he thought to himself), "and sorted out our feelings," (and our lust). He took a step away from the counter.

"She's still here, just getting changed and…I want to know that you're ok with this Alexis, that you…"

"Dad, why would I not be ok with this?" she cut him off, "How could I possibly be against this when you clearly love her so much and she makes you so happy? Even when you guys were fighting and you were angry at her, it was still so obvious. If things between you two are finally what you want them to be, why would I have a problem with that?" she said, smiling at the look on his face. She'd been angry earlier this year when he'd decided to keep pursuing Beckett, because she feared for his life and feared that he would lose it while getting nothing in return from her. She knew how her dad felt about Kate Beckett and she had a pretty good idea of how she felt about him. Obviously, she had been right.

"You see, this is why you are the best daughter in the world. Ever," Castle said, pulling her into a bear hug, planting a kiss on the top of her head.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett had heard the last few minutes of their conversation from the study but couldn't bring herself to walk out and ruin the moment. When she heard the silence, she decided to make a move, heading for the living area rather than the kitchen. She was headed off by Castle who at that moment emerged from the kitchen, grinning happily.

His arm wrapped around her waist and he kissed her cheek as he pulled her to him.

"Where do you think you're going?" he whispered, as he turned her in his arms to face him.

"I take it your chat with Alexis went well," she replied, grazing his lips with her own before stepping back from him. The last thing she needed to do was scar his daughter on her first morning after in their house.

Alexis rounded the corner just as Beckett released his hand from hers and smiled.

"Hey Detective Beckett," she said chirpily and Kate smiled back at her.

"It's just Kate, Alexis. Just Kate." She didn't delve any further into that statement. She'd allow Castle to fill the girl in on that one, once they'd processed it. She knew she needed to contact Esposito and apologise to him, she knew she needed to call Ryan and thank him for saving her life, regardless of the consequences. They were irrelevant. She was still here; she was alive because he disobeyed her. And she was standing, being enveloped in Castle's embrace because of it. Yeah, she owed Ryan a serious thank you, she thought.

Alexis was packing bags of frozen food into a bag, with gusto.

"You're either trying to keep a body part on ice or you're going to a party," she said pointedly to the young graduate. Alexis smiled.

"Party first, as for the body part I really can't say," she grinned before adding, "I guess I could use them for pain relief when I get my Columbia tattoo…" she trailed off, waiting for her father's reaction.

"Yeah and when you're done with that you could enter a witness protection programme," he replied quickly with a smirk and she nodded her head, knowing he had smelt her wind-up well in advance. He pulled his wallet from his pocket and took a couple of notes from it.

"Here, splash out on some food for you and your friends. Call me later to let me know you're ok though, yeah?" he said, handing her the money and she agreed.

"I'll see you two later?" she said as she turned the door handle and the pair nodded before she exited. As the door closed, Castle felt Beckett's hand at the small of his back, felt the whisper of his breath behind her ear.

"And what exactly, Mr. Castle, is wrong with tattoos?" she purred and his eyes closed.

"She's not old enough for one," he said, gasping as she caught his ear lobe between her teeth. He turned to face her, his hands finding her hips.

"It does remind me though, I need to find yours," he said as his hands found the hem of her shirt and were about to pull it up when she stopped him. He looked up, into her eyes.

"There's a few things I need to do today Castle," she started and he nodded his head.

"Anything you need," he said, kissing her forward, "Anything you want," he added. She glanced down at the ground.

"I need to visit my mom. Will you come with me?" she said hesitantly and he nodded immediately.

"Of course."

"I need to meet Ryan and Esposito, I need to thank and apologise to them," she said and he nodded again, his hands clasping behind her back, pulling her tight to him, his way of again reassuring her that he was right there with and for her. She smiled and reached up to kiss him.

"And after that, I just want you," she repeated her comment from the previous night and he grinned.

"I think all of that can be arranged," he said before leading her back to his room, one he hoped, would someday become 'their' room. For now though, he was happy to spend time convincing her that she was his and he was hers. Always.


	2. Chapter 2

_So, a tag on to this story was requested by a couple of reviewers and I couldn't help but oblige. ;-) Will see how far I can go with it, I see it becoming a multi chapter story, thanks to you oppressive reviewers!_

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett's plan to go see her mother and the boys hit its first snag after she and Castle returned to his room to find her clothes still soaking wet from the night before.

"I should probably go home first anyway, find some fresh clothes." she said as Castle picked them up to put them in the tumble dryer. He glanced at her, wearing his sweat pants (way too big) and his maroon shirt from last night. He could get used to seeing her like this.

"I'll pop your clothes in the dryer. They should be done in about twenty and we can swing by your house then?" he said and she nodded, her hand finding his free one and squeezing it.

"Thanks Rick." she said, his first name rolling off her tongue before she even thought about it. It felt weird but new and she supposed that now was the time for things to be new.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

When he came back from putting her clothes in the dryer he brewed up some coffee and toasted some bagels, preparing an extremely late breakfast. He wanted to take her somewhere fancy later so this was just to ensure that she wouldn't die of starvation before then.

As he went back to his room, he could hear her voice on the phone.

"I just, can't do it anymore Dad...I know you never asked me to, never wanted me to but...I feel like I've let you down..." Castle could hear the hitch in her voice as she spoke to Jim Beckett, someone he'd met just twice.

"I know Dad. I've finally figured that out myself..." Her voice sounded like it had a smile again and he took his chance to walk in, placing the plate with the bagels down on the bedside table at his side and walking around to hand the coffee to her. She mouthed a thank you to him and he smiled, settling down on to the bed behind her to drink his own.

"I'm going to come see you soon ok Dad? I want you to meet someone," she looked over her shoulder at Castle who was biting into half a bagel. He smiled back at her and she looked away again, "Yeah Dad. I'll talk to you soon. I love you. Bye."

She put the phone down on the bedside table and took a deep breath.

"How's your dad?" he asked, crunching another bite of the bagel. She pushed herself up the bed to sit between his legs.

"He's fine. I didn't tell him all the details, he'd only worry." she said, smiling as he held the bagel down in front of her for her to take a bite. She let out a soft moan as she chewed. She couldn't remember the last time she'd eaten but this tasted good.

"Give your clothes 20 minutes and they should be fine." he murmured as he pulled her back to lie against him. He wrapped his arms around her stomach, holding the bagel up to her again.

"This is a nice version of breakfast in bed," she said as she took another bite, her hand resting on his thigh. He smirked, leaning forward, his breath whispering over her ear.

"I can think of a nicer one but I think we need some sustenance first..." he trailed off, catching her ear between his teeth and running his tongue over it. She shuddered against him and tightened her hand on his thigh.

"I think my fitness would be up to it..." she said breathlessly and he chuckled into her neck.

"Nah uh, I'm not going to be the one who has to explain to your dad that you ended up in hospital for malnutrition because you were too busy having sex with me. As a father myself, it's not one I'd look kindly on." he joked before reaching for another piece of bagel. She let her head fall back against his chest.

"Fine. But the next time you withhold for this reason, I'm going to find something nutritious and spreadable," she threatened and he swallowed back a moan.

"Deal."

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

He left her to get a shower while he went to check if her clothes were dry. She had called both Ryan and Esposito while they ate breakfast and arranged to meet in the evening, after Ryan finished up in work. He was snowed under with paperwork landed on hm after the incident the day before but he sounded relieved to hear her voice.

Castle took her clothes from the dryer, satisfied that they were dry enough to at least get her to her own home to get changed. She was wrapped in a fluffy bath towel when he got back to the room, placing her clothes, folded, on the bed beside her.

He had showered in the spare room and changed while she was in his ensuite. He offered to make some more coffee and she nodded, letting the towel slip off her top half while he was talking to her. His words caught in his throat and he had to swallow again.

"You know if I was ten years older, I'd be dead right now, yeah?" he said, claiming her lips with his, his tongue folding over hers, his hands on her hips and chest. She draped an arm around his neck pulling him close and he deepened the kiss before breaking away breathless.

"Get dressed before you kill me," he said giving her one last peck on the lips and leaving her to get dressed in peace. She smiled to herself, maybe she really would kill him.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

Her apartment seemed cold and empty when she walked into it. It was like a monochrome set in comparison to the warmth in his apartment. She moved through the living room to her bedroom to get changed. He looked through her bookshelf, finding all of his own titles on it along with a few Grisham's and Patterson's. He smiled when his fingers fell over the three Nicki Heat books, thinking about the dedications he had written and the one he would write on the next one.

He smiled when he thought of how he could now lose the subtlety of the first three - he knew he probably wouldn't though. He'd find something that only he and she would find meaning in - To Kate, my first, last and every chance. Hmmm, no, too Barry White. He pouted, thinking about it, then shrugged. He'd figure it out when it came to it.

He looked up when she returned from the room, dressed now in tight jeans, heels and a white shirt, something similar to what she wore the night he'd tried to convince her to quit her investigation. She didn't wear the ring around her neck now, just her dad's watch. He stood up, reaching his hands out for hers.

"Ready?" he said and she nodded.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

The storm the night before had cleared the air and it was a warm, sunny day. As they pushed through the graveyard, he reached down and took her hand in his letting her lead him to her mother's grave.

As she slowed up he squeezed her hand and let it go, standing back slightly while she knelt down in front of the grave. He watched as she ran her hand along the marble, wiping away a smudge of dirt at the edge, her lips moving briefly, talking so only she and her mother could hear. He bowed his head, watching her as she went about her activity.

They remained like that for over ten minutes, Castle saying nothing. He knew this was a difficult moment for her. It seemed telling her father she was moving on was easier than telling her mother. He watched as her head bowed and a tear dropped from her cheek onto the grave. He walked to her and knelt down beside her, his arm around her waist.

"She'd be proud of you Kate, " he whispered in her ear before standing up and holding his hand out to her. She took it and stood, her hand clasped tight in his. She nodded her head, "Yeah. Let's go."

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.


	3. Chapter 3

_Just a slight change here, as lv2bnsb1b pointed out, it is indeed Mr. Smith, not Mr. White. I appear to have had a momentary loss in paying attention!_

_Loving all the reviews so far. More soon.  
_

THREE

They had arranged to meet Esposito and Ryan in a small restaurant near the Twelfth that Castle knew. Neither of them were very hungry anyway. They had just sat down when Esposito walked in. He looked like he always would even if he had been in the Precinct. She smiled at him when he sat down opposite she and Castle.

"Hey," he said, "Lanie's looking for you." he added to Beckett and she nodded. She had to call her best friend. She told him she'd do that after they left the restaurant and arrange to meet up with her.

"She's pretty shocked that you quit and Gates just yelled at me to get out after you left," he said, nodding when the waitress came over with coffee. All three took a cup and Castle asked for fourth one, spotting Ryan walking in the door.

"Hey guys," he said, pulling up the chair next to Esposito, "Javi," he said pointedly but Esposito ignored him. Beckett bit her bottom lip.

"Ok, that's the first thing here. You two, grow up and talk to each other." she said and Espo raised his eyebrows.

"He sold us out to Gates, got us suspended..."

"...saved Kate's life." Castle finished firmly. Ryan swallowed and the four fell silent as the waitress came back with coffee for Ryan and to take orders. All four got the pasta special. Beckett sighed as the waitresses walked away.

"Guys, we're a team, we're friends, no one is to blame for what happened yesterday. Or maybe we're all to blame in our own separate ways. But it's done, ok? We get over it, we move on." she said, swallowing and taking a sip of her coffee. Castle would love to have slipped his hand into hers but knew it would be a step too far. She was trying to be decisive, trying to tie up these loose ends.

Ryan and Espo both bowed their heads.

"Gates is on the warpath," Ryan said suddenly, "I don't think she counted on you resigning. She's been getting calls all day. The Police Commissioner's summoned her to a meeting." he added and Castle frowned at that.

"Why? I'm sure cops resign every day, what's the big deal?" he'd said it before he even thought ahead.

"Gee, thanks Castle." Beckett said dryly.

"No offence." he said, looking at Beckett who smirked and shook her head.

"None taken, but you're right. It does seem excessive. Maybe it's because of how dangerous it was. Her job might be on the line now too…" She shrugged and shook her head.

"The car Maddox was driving was dumped about ten blocks from the hotel, we're, I'm, combing CCTV in the area to see if we can get a hit on him..." Ryan continued and Beckett shook her head.

"You won't find him Ryan. It's over, it's done." Esposito sat up straighter, frowning and leaning forward on the table.

" What do you mean it's done? You've been chasing this for more than ten years, Beckett..." he said forcefully and Castle swallowed. He glanced sideways at Beckett to see her shaking her head.

"And what has it got me, Javi? I've been shot, thrown off a roof, I've damn near lost my mind, twice, and for what?" she said in a firm but somewhat faltering tone. Castle recognised it as then one she'd used when he told her about Mr. Smith.

"For what? For the truth, Beckett. They killed your mother! Montgomery, and God knows who else." he pushed, his teeth gritted almost, trying not to bellow across the short distance between them. Castle was frowning at Esposito, wondering where this sudden insistence and aggression was coming from.

"And they'll kill me if I don't stop investigating it." she said pointedly. Esposito shook his head, waving a hand in the air.

"You don't know that." he said flippantly and Castle saw his entry point.

"Actually she does." he said quietly and Esposito looked up, at Castle, then her. She nodded.

"They're holding all the cards Espo. I'm done. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, got you suspended. I'm sorry. I have chased this for so long that I don't know who I am without it any more...but I want to know. And I don't want to be defined by just that one moment anymore."

She took a deep breath as they sat there, all silently mulling over their mains. Castle picked at sporadic pieces of chicken in his, not really feeling like eating anymore. He hadn't expected this meeting to be quite so inquisitive. He would have thought the two across the table would be glad that their boss, former boss, was stepping away, letting things just be and living her own life. Espo sighed heavily.

"I don't get it Beckett. This guy shot you, nearly killed you, and you're ok with letting him roam the streets freely, never bringing him to justice? Or who he works for to justice? You're seriously ok with that?" he asked exasperated.

Castle watched her out of the corner of his eye. He was dying to say something back to Esposito but he knew it wasn't his place. As much as he wanted to speak out, he knew he had to stay quiet and let Beckett handle this herself.

"What do you want me to do, Javi? Get killed? I tried that already and didn't care much for it. What good will having the truth do if I die while chasing it?" she hissed at him, careful to keep her voice down in the restaurant which had packed up a lot in the last twenty minutes. Esposito shook his head.

"I'll ask again, are you seriously ok with that?"

Beckett clenched her jaw, stare locked on his.

"Yes. I am." she said firmly and Esposito sat back in his chair. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his wallet, taking a twenty and dropping it on the table. He stood up and pulled his jacket on. He left without saying another word, despite Beckett's protests.

Ryan bit his bottom lip before dropping his own twenty.

"I'm going to follow him. Find out what's wrong. I'm sorry again Beckett," he said wistfully be she shrugged it off.

"You saved my life Ryan. Stop being sorry." she smiled and he bolted for the door to follow Esposito. Beckett sat back in her chair, exhaling loudly. Castle frowned, pushing a piece of pasta around his plate.

"What the hell was that?" Beckett said quietly and Castle shook his head before asking a passing waiter to bring the check.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

_Ok, so I have a bit of a plan as to where this is going. Hopefully I'll be able to update fairly regularly. The more reviews I get, the more inclined I will be to upload quicker. ;-)_


	4. Chapter 4

_Thank you to everyone for all the kind reviews so far – you are all making my day/week/prolonged period of time. I have actually, believe it or not, got a plan for this fic in terms of story. In other words I'm not just making it up as I go. At least not all of it anyway._

_Anyway, you're all wonderful and hope you enjoy this next chapter. More soon I hope._

FOUR

They were quiet as they left the restaurant, both subdued by the conversation they had had inside. They hadn't discussed what to do next and Castle was getting an uneasy feeling of being in limbo. He needn't have. It was as if she had sensed it and she reached down, slipping her hand into his as they walked, in no particular direction, but together.

"Kate, this could get photographed," he said, indicating their joined hands but she simply smiled back at him and he nodded his head, squeezing her hand and pulling her closer to his side.

They walked along quietly and happily for a couple of blocks before Castle spoke again.

"So what's next?" he asked, glancing at his watch to check the time. It was heading for six o'clock but the blazing sunshine made it feel like it was still early morning.

"I need to call Lanie, explain some stuff to her," she said and he nodded. He knew when Esposito had said it in the restaurant that Lanie would more than likely be the next port-of-call for her. They walked along a little further, still seemingly following no specific path. It was unsurprising for either then when they found themselves at the junction by the Twelfth Precinct. Beckett stopped and moved to turn back.

"Sorry, Castle…"

"Don't be. It's a huge part of your life. I'm finding it hard to digest that it won't be anymore," he said honestly and she looked up at him, biting her lip, a little insecurity seeping in.

"Are you…does it bother you that I quit?" she asked quietly and his mouth opened as if to reply quickly but then he thought better of it. Instead, he pulled her close to him as they started to walk back the way they came.

"Let me see, does it bother me that you'll be getting yourself into less life threatening situations? Hmmm, let me think about that for five seconds," he said dryly and she smirked. He turned his head to plant a soft kiss to her hair.

A few blocks later they hailed a cab and gave him Beckett's address. They agreed en-route that she would arrange to meet Lanie for dinner. Castle would go home to spend some time with Alexis and his mother if she had returned and Beckett would come over later if she and Lanie didn't end up on a wine-fuelled evening.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE

Beckett had showered and was towel drying her hair in front of her mirror when he came into the room. He'd insisted on coming in with her, saying he'd leave when she was going to meet Lanie. He sat down behind her on the bed and watched as she brushed the knots out of her wet hair. As she pulled the length of hair away from her back, he saw the pointed, black bruise below her neck , between her shoulder blades, where Maddox had throttled her. He reached out slowly and laid his fingers on it, stilling as she tensed under his touch.

"Does that hurt?" he asked, flattening his palm on it.

"A little," she admitted, attempting to go back to brushing her hair until she felt what could only be his lips on it, his tongue lapping over it, his fingers delicately outlining it. She shivered as he pulled away.

"Where else?" he whispered, tugging at the back of her towel, drawing a smile from her face. She turned her body to face him, hand catching his where it was tugging at her towel.

"I'll draw you a map and you can explore later," she said, pushing his hand back onto his own knee. He leaned forward so their breaths mingled between them.

"Is there buried treasure?" he asked playfully and she smirked, planting a soft kiss on his lips. She turned back to the mirror and he stood up to give her some privacy. As he reached the doorway, she responded: "I think you found it already but you're welcome to look again."

He grinned and left her in peace.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

She wore a simply pair of jeans, heels and sleeveless top, finished off by a blazer jacket she hadn't worn for a while. Castle looked up from where he was sitting on the couch, thumbing through one of her Patterson novels. He didn't quite look at her though, he was still focused on the book.

"You know I guessed who the killer was in this after Chapter Three? I mean, come on James, he was definitely in 'Churn' mode during this one…" he said, putting the book down on the table and standing up.

"I knew after chapter two," she said, grabbing her keys off the table and tucking her phone into her pocket. She checked that the lights and various appliances were off before they left.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

Castle dropped his keys inside the door as he entered, noting the lit living room and figuring that someone must have been home.

"Alexis, Mother?" he called as he moved to the kitchen, opening the fridge to see if his daughter had left anything remotely edible that he could do something with. He frowned before taking a plate of leftover lasagne and moving to the microwave.

"You seem a lot cheerier," his mother's voice breezed in from the doorway. He looked up and smiled at her, putting the place in to heat.

"I am," he said simply, knowing the vagueness would drive her mad. Sure enough, he heard her scoff as she moved into the kitchen, reaching for a glass and the bottle of white wine he had seen in the fridge.

"I had a call from Alexis, she mentioned that we had a visitor this morning…" she teased gently and Castle smiled, nodding his head.

"Yep," he said again, watching as she sipped her wine.

"And? For God's sake Richard, give me something to work with here!" she finally bellowed, losing her patience with him and he chuckled happily to himself.

"And everything's fine, Mother. She's quit the case, quit the force, I think she's finally made her peace with the fact that she could chase forever and still not get to the bottom of this," he said as the microwave pinged. Martha nodded.

"You think that's going to be enough for her? Enough for her to stay away?" she asked softly and Castle frowned at her, thinking that the last thing he needed was his mother making comments that were lodging in his brain as niggling doubts.

"I do. She nearly died, Mother. She fell off a roof and only for Ryan was there to catch her she'd be dead. Things have changed and I think she's finally let herself be ready to move on," he said firmly.

His mother stepped closer to him, putting her hands on his to still them. He didn't realise he had been gesticulating while talking.

"Richard, darling, I'm not trying to rain on your parade, I'm not trying to say that it's not what you think it is because I'm pretty sure that it is. I know you love her and I've always been sure that she felt the same about you, that's not the issue here. What I'm saying is, that it's rosy now in the immediate aftermath but in a week or two weeks time when it's sunk in that she's left the police…do you honestly think that not finding her mother's killer won't bother her?" she finished softly, her hands squeezing her sons, offering him some level of support after what she'd just said.

He bit his bottom lip between his teeth and bowed his head, before admitting to the thing he knew had been eating him since last night but he hadn't been able to vocalise or understand until now, when it had been spelled out for him.

"No," he said finally, "No I don't."

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

_Thanks to all the wonderfully kind reviewers so far. To those who feared that Esposito was being a bit OTT in the last chapter, I'm hoping to iron that out in the next chapter a little – hopefully give a pretty decent reason as to his behaviour. It'll be delved into a little later again anyway._

_Blown away by all of your kind reviews – thank you and keep em coming!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Little shy on reviews for the last chapter...did people hate it? The conversation with Martha was a tricky write so was hoping someone would comment on it. Never mind, I'll put it down to a bad week!_

_This chapter is Lanie and Beckett - hopefully i've got their rapport right. Enjoy and review!  
_

FIVE

Beckett smiled as she saw Lanie waiting just inside the door of their favourite restaurant, the one they always went to when they got together for dinner and a chat. She pushed the door open and stepped inside, smiling when Lanie turned to her.

"Hey Lanie," she said quietly.

"Girl, you've got a hell of a story to tell," Lanie said in her usual confident tone and Beckett laughed.

"Yeah, you're right about that," she said before a waiter came to show them to their table.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

They had discussed Beckett's quitting during their starters and salads. She had been very careful not to mention anything about Castle at any point. She wanted that part to be a surprise (or shock) for her friend, who had advocated almost from day one for the two of them to get together. She was also wise to the fact that there was a pool going in the precinct though she doubted that anything would ever come of that now that she had left.

"I just, I don't know what came over me Lanie. I just quit, just like that. Something in me snapped and said 'no, enough'. And I don't get it because I love my job, I love what I do, I just, I don't know…" she said as she speared a pepper with her fork and chewed on it.

Lanie looked up, pursing her lips.

"Are you regretting resigning? Because I'm sure you could get your badge back…"

"No, I'm not. At least not yet anyway. It just, it feels like a weight has been lifted off me, you know? Maybe it's because for ten years, I've always tied my work and my mom's case hand-in-hand. I don't know, maybe to give up one, I have to give up both," she said, taking another bite of the last of her salad.

Lanie raised her eyebrows. It seemed reasonable enough to her.

"Kate, not meaning to be argumentative here but, it's been a day. Sometimes regrets take their time," she said softly and Beckett nodded.

"Yeah Lanie, I know all about regret. And, I guess, I'll deal with it if it comes," she said quickly and Lanie nodded her head. She picked up the wine button and topped them both up.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

They discussed how her departure would affect the others during their main courses – Beckett's a pasta parmagiana and Lanie's a seafood fettuccini. Both were equally delicious.

"Have you spoken to Javi lately?" Beckett asked casually as she pushed her pasta around the bowl. Lanie nodded her head.

"Yeah, earlier today. He told me you were giving up your mom's case," she said quietly, popping a piece of shrimp in her mouth. Beckett nodded her head slowly before looking away briefly. She looked back and up at her friend.

"Do you think I'm wrong Lanie? Do you think I'm wrong for stepping away, for leaving it alone? Because I think Espo does," she added. Lanie put her fork down and took a sip of wine.

"Javi's not seeing the bigger picture Kate," she said quickly, clearly not wanting to elaborate any further but Beckett looked at her pointedly, fork in hand and Lanie sighed, continuing: "Well, you know him a long time, longer than me. But he's got a, deep-seethed notion of justice, right?"

Beckett nodded. He definitely had that. It had been instilled him in the army, long before he'd joined the force.

"He thinks justice hasn't been served and that you're giving up on it," Lanie said quickly and Beckett sat back in her chair. She took a deep breath.

"I am," she said then, "because it's not worth the potential price I or you, or any of the guys might pay for it. I'm not giving up because I don't want to find my mom's killer, Lanie, I'm giving up because I've stopped being willing to die for it. I want a life, Lanie. I want to not be looking over my shoulder all the time, chasing decade old leads and burying myself down a rabbit hole because the simple fact is, no matter how hard I chase, even if I do catch these guys, it'll never bring her back. I have to move on from it Lanie, I have to stop letting it define me." She shook her head as she finished, taking her wine glass and downing what was left in it. Lanie watched her friend with a fond expression on her face.

"Kate, I know that. Espo knows it too; he just needs to come around to it. I think, when you got so close, he wanted it not only for you, but for Montgomery too. Trust me, he'll come around when he sits down and actually thinks about it," she said softly and Beckett nodded. Lanie sat back in her chair.

"And, for the record, if you quitting the case means I won't have to ruin my best little black dress pumping your heart in the back of an ambulance then I am ok with that," she joked and Beckett laughed aloud, her hand moving absently to the spot on her chest where the scar sat, vibrating now under her fingers. It felt good, after the heaviness of the conversation so far, to be able to laugh about something, even if it was Lanie's horrible memory of the day of her shooting.

"Well, I hope the Book of Revelations is over because between it and my main course, my stomach is starting to feel heavy," Lanie said as she cornered the last piece of fish on her plate and popped it in her mouth. Beckett smirked. This was the part she had been looking forward to all day.

"Well actually, you might want to order desert. There is one more thing…"

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

"Shut the front door!" Lanie exclaimed, loudly enough for the people in her most immediate vicinity to hear. A few stopped and looked at her. She recoiled sheepishly, holding up her hands and apologising. The diners went back to their own conversations, most of them unperturbed by the outburst from the young doctor, whose friend was crouched down in her seat, biting back loud guffaws of laughter.

Lanie leaned forward on the table, taking care not to let her necklace dangle into the chocolate fondant she had ordered. Beckett had ordered the same, but had yet to touch it. Out of sheer mischief she had waited for Lanie to take her first bit of her desert before quietly uttering the words: "I slept with Castle."

"Girl, firstly I can't believe you left this until last. And secondly, details. Now," she took another bite of her desert and pointed the fork at her in a threatening motion. Beckett took a quick glance around to see if anyone was taking notice of the girl swinging forks at people. They weren't. She sat forward.

"I didn't tell you earlier because I wanted to have a serious conversation with you and I knew I wouldn't get that if you spent the whole of dinner saying 'I was right'," she raised her eyebrows at her friend who nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough. Now. Details."

Beckett couldn't hide the smirk on her face as she recalled the events from the previous night, from the moment she was pulled up off the roof to see Ryan instead of him standing there. She told her about their argument the night before that, about how he'd told her he loved her. Again. Twice.

"…And then, when I was sitting there in the rain, it just came to me like a flash. He was the last thing I was going to think about before I died; he's the first person on my mind in the mornings when I wake up… what have been doing for the last four years, Lanie?"

She continued, telling her about how when she'd went to his door, soaking wet (_Lanie had made a smart comment at that point_) and kissed him. She told her about how reluctant he had been, how shielded and wary he was until she'd told him all she wanted was him. Then the passion had just erupted.

"I love him, Lanie. I suppose you guys have probably known that for longer than I have," she held her hands up and smiled a bright, beaming smile and Lanie felt her heart soar for her friend.

"You have no idea how happy I am for both of you. And me. I won the pool," she added quickly and Beckett threw her hands in the air.

"What, did you bet on every day, Lanie?" she asked exasperated. The M.E shook her head.

"Nope. About two months back, after he pulled you out of a car in the river, I put an all encompassing bet on this month. Then you two stopped talking and I just about kissed it goodbye. I think I'll be up about two thousand dollars at this stage…" she said and Beckett's eyes widened.

"Two thousand? Jeez Lanie, if I'd known it was that high I'd have put my own bet in!" The two girls laughed good-naturedly at that one.

"Seriously though, how many people were in on it?" Beckett asked, wondering where such a sum could have come from in a small police station. Lanie pursed her lips.

"Some have been there a while. Pretty much all of the precinct was in on it. Even Gates dropped a twenty on it," she shrugged and Beckett looked back at her in shock.

"Gates? Seriously?"

Lanie nodded and Beckett chuckled.

"So much for her believing there was nothing between us,"

"Honey, a blind, deaf, dumb man wouldn't have believed that one."

As the waiter passed by, they asked for the check before Lanie leaned forward almost conspiratorially on the table. Beckett frowned and leaned in, knowing from the off that this was not going to be a remark meant for public consumption.

"So was it good?"

Beckett stifled back a laugh and nodded her head.

"Is he Writer-Boy or Writer-Man?" Lanie added off Beckett's smirk. Beckett smiled and nodded her head, as the waiter came back, depositing the bill on the table.

"Writer-Man, Lanie. Definitely Writer-Man."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok so there's another chapter up and done. It might be a little while before the next one, I need to plot it out and see where it's going to go but bear with me, add me to your lists, review and watch this space. Thanks to all who have and are reviewing so far – you guys rock._


	6. Chapter 6

SIX

Castle was sitting in his study, feet on the desk, laptop on his knees when he heard the doorbell ring. He smiled to himself. She had a key and had done for a long time but she had never used it. She was obviously planning on taking this part of their relationship slow.

He didn't get up, feigning work instead so that his mother could answer it. He heard her from the study.

"Kate, darling! Come in, have a glass of wine with me!"

Castle chuckled. He knew he should probably go out and rescue her but he had suddenly gotten a neat idea for a chapter in his latest Nikki Heat book. Ten minutes, he told himself, I'll give it ten minutes then rescue her.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett sat happily on the couch as Martha poured her a generous helping of red and handed it to her before sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. They had made general chitchat and small talk for a few minutes while Martha located her son's stash of "the good red". Beckett got the feeling Martha was building towards something.

"So Kate, I hear you had disagreement with a rooftop…" Martha said airily, as if it was something that happened everyday and Beckett nodded her head.

"Yep, and I'm not keen to repeat it," she said taking a sip of her wine. She'd already had two glasses during dinner but the trip over in the taxi had sobered her up. She had toyed with the idea of going home to her own apartment and arranging to see Castle tomorrow but she knew it wouldn't have worked. He'd have been over to hers in an instant and she smiled at the thought that their relationship had being moving in an almost backwards progression. First they were indifferent, then friends and now infatuation.

"And you quit the force? How do you feel about that?" Martha asked softly, not wanting to seem like she was prying. Even though she was. Beckett nodded again.

"Mostly good. I guess I haven't really had time to think yet about how it will affect me. Obviously I'll miss it. For a while. It'll take some getting used to but I know that if I stay I'll always be tempted to dig further. If I get out, maybe I can find some other way to deal with it," she said honestly and Martha smiled at her, reaching her hand to grasp her shoulder.

"Be strong about it, Kate. Sometimes, to be free you just have to let go. Believe me, I know that better than anybody."

"Thanks Martha, I'm not saying it'll be easy but I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I can be the person I want to be," she said, wondering if she was sharing too much detail with the mother of the man who'd been inside her less than 24 hours ago. And probably would be again very soon. Martha stood up, making her excuses about being exhausted and needing her beauty and relaxation sleep.

"Just one more thing Kate, that man in there thinks the absolute world of you. In all my years as his mother, and I won't tell you how many that is because I guard that secret with my life, I've never seen him follow anybody the way he follows you. I'm not going to do the whole 'don't hurt my son' thing because it's a TV cliché but trust him and let him in. He won't let you down. He doesn't know how to," she said with a warm, fond smile on her face and Beckett grinned, thanking the older woman and bidding her goodnight.

Moving to the kitchen, she fetched and extra glass and tipped half of her wine into it, before slipping across the room and knocking on the study door. There was no answer so she turned the handle and went inside.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

He looked up smiling when she walked in, carrying the two glasses of wine. He closed over the lid of his laptop and pushed it aside onto the desk, watching as she stalked across the room, shedding her heels as she did.

"I'm sorry I didn't come rescue you from my mother. I was writing, had a scene I couldn't step away from," he said as she tapped his feet, which still rested on the corner of the desk. She handed him his glass and he dropped his feet but rather than letting her sit at the corner, he reached forward and pulled her closer to him, between the V of his legs before he let her lean back against the desk.

"It's fine, I think Martha was craving female company so we had some wine and talked," she said, smiling. He nodded his head, twisting his chair to face her. She reached out and let her hand run through his thick hair. He smirked at the feel of it, he moved his hands onto the back of her knees, running them up the back of her thighs, stopping just below her ass.

"How was your dinner with Lanie?" he asked, squeezing her legs playfully. She smiled down at him.

"It was nice. We had a good talk before I gave her a heart attack by telling her about last night..." she smirked and he chuckled, leaning forward to rest his chain on the waistband of her jeans.

"What did she say?" he asked, wheeling his chair in closer to her, effectively caging her between his legs and the desk.

"Told me to 'shut the front door' and that she was happy for me. Did you know that office pool is up to two thousand dollars?" she added, maintaining the same level of surprised she'd had when Lanie had told her earlier. He looked up at her, eyebrows raised.

"Seriously? Jeez, if I'd known that I'd have placed a bet!" he said, running his hands down her thighs again, nosing at the hem of her top.

"That's what I said. Also, Gates dropped twenty on it, which surprised me even more," she gasped out the last words when she felt his hands hooking over the waistband of her jeans, his thumbs flicking open the button on them. She smiled as one of his hands moved to pull at the zip.

"You know Castle, I'm starting to think you're just using me for sex..." she said playfully and he grinned, standing up and invading her space, one hand finding the bone of her hip, the other sliding down beneath the jeans fabric over her panties. She gasped again as his fingers ghosted over her centre.

"And what, pray tell, gave you that idea?" he murmured against her lips, his other hand snaking around and down onto her ass. He flicked his fingers lightly against her and grinned as she ground her hips toward his hand.

"Gee I don't know Castle, maybe it's got something to do with you having your hand down my pants..." she smirked at him and he returned it with one of his own, leaning in to kiss her. Their tongues moulded into each other and he stepped in, pulling her closer to him.

"Yeah you're right, we should rectify that. You really shouldn't have any pants on at all," he said before stepping back and withdrawing his hand from under her jeans. He took her hand in his and guided her along behind him into the bedroom. She pushed the door closed as they walked through.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok so, I realise this fic doesn't really live up to its M rating before now which is why I deliberately trailed off here, to ask a question of you the readers. While I have a pretty good idea of what you're gonna say I'll ask anyway. Do you want smut, substance, or an attempt at both in the next chapter? Answers on a postcard. With mini-muffins attached._


	7. Chapter 7

_Ok, seems like smut AND substance wins the race. Hopefully people like this... Always nervous about writing these scenes so any feedback appreciated. Also, it's long. R & R!_

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

The lights were off in his room, the only illumination coming from the open curtains and the glare of the city from below and the moon from above. The bed had been tidied since this afternoon, presumably he had come home this evening and tied up a few different loose ends.

She smiled as he pulled her close to kiss her softly, his tongue mingling with hers, his hands coming up to frame her face, thumbs grazing her cheeks, she thought she might die right there and then such was the tenderness of his kiss.

Slowly he moved his hands down her arms onto her hips and found the hem of her top, tugging at it and pulling it up and over her arms, this time revealing a lace white bra. He kissed her again, trailing his lips down her neck to her chest, placing a soft kiss over her scar as he had done last night. He grinned against her skin when he felt her hand in his hair, tugging him back to her lips.

Her hands had begun to work on his shirt and she quickly fumbled open the buttons the whole way down to his waist. She pushed it off his broad shoulders and grinned as he crushed his chest against hers, the feeling just intoxicating as it was last night. They were here, alive and skin-to-skin. He groaned at the thought of it. He quickly toed off his shoes and socks so that they were now on equal footing in terms of clothing but she moved immediately to further undress him.

Her hand ghosted over the bulge in his pants and he swallowed back a moan.

"Kate..." he said in a warning tone as her hands unclasped his belt buckle.

"Rick?" she said innocently and he couldn't help pulling her into another mouthwatering kiss. She whimpered in his mouth as his hands found the sides of her jeans and pushed them down off her hips, catching at her thighs because they were skin tight. He growled and kissed his way down her body, dropping down to his knees to pull the denim fabric the rest of the way down her legs. Grinning up at her, he kissed the inside of both her knees before picking her right leg and ghosting kisses up the inside of her thigh.

Her knees felt week, he could hear her breath trembling above as he got closer to where she wanted him, a place which was, at the moment covered by a matching lace thong and nuzzled his nose into her placing a soft kiss on the fabric where her clitoris would be. He felt her hand in his hair again, tugging him back to his feet so he complied.

Her hands moved quickly to unbuckle his jeans and they fell away to the floor, revealing Superman boxers which made her laugh happily. He grinned before feigning a scowl.

"You know laughing at a man in this situation could be construed as killing the mood..." he said in a mock injured tone. She stepped closer to him, her hand reaching behind her back to flick open the catch on her bra.

"Well let me see if I can bring it back to life..." she grinned before letting the piece of fabric fall away to reveal her bare chest, breasts perfectly sized to fit comfortably in his huge hands which was exactly where he put them while leaning to kiss her again.

"Yep, that'll work..."

He would never get tired of this. Pinching her nipples, he moved down her body to find the waist band of her thong and without any hesitation pushed it down her legs, letting her step out of it, never breaking their kiss as he did.

He stepped back from her then, sitting down on the edge of the bed, pulling her into the V of his legs, his face exactly where they both wanted it but Castle wasn't quite ready yet to give in.

"I do believe you mentioned a map earlier..." he said grinning, pressing a kiss into her naval, smiling when her hands slid into his hair. He loved that feeling and worried that if she ever did it in public in future he might just come right there and then.

"I did, didn't I? Unfortunately I forgot to draw it..."

"Tell me where it hurts," he said simply, looking up and imploring her with his eyes. He wanted to do this, wanted to take all her scars and bruises and run his hands and tongue over them. There was something so insanely caring about it that she couldn't even begin to protest, just nodded her head. His hands around her thighs anchored her to him and he smiled at her, waiting.

"My ribs," she said softly, "and solar plexus..." She gasped as his hands softly ghosted over her ribs, followed by his mouth and tongue, nipping, tasting, sucking. His hand trailed down the centre of her stomach, stopping just above her centre and his tongue followed, her hand in his hair again as she sighed and moaned contentedly above him.

"Where else?" he whispered across her skin.

"My neck and shoulders," she said, grinning now at the attention he was giving her. He stood up, dropping a soft kiss on her lips before moving to her shoulders again nipping and tasting, smoothing over them with his hands. He was drinking her in, totally concentrated on what he was doing and she'd be lying if she said it wasn't making her feel ten times lighter.

"Anywhere else?" he asked breathlessly against her ear and she sighed out, "My back, no one place, just the whole damn thing," and he kissed her neck under her ear.

"Lie down," he whispered and she did, face down while he moved to lie beside her, hand trailing down her spine onto her ass. He leaned across her and planted a soft kiss on her spine at the base of her neck. She shivered so he did it again and slowly worked his way down her spine to the small of her back where he found her tattoo - two black Chinese symbols one on top of the other. He kissed them both, his hand roaming down her body behind.

"What does it mean?" he asked, working his way back up to the back of her neck, replacing his lips with his hand as he gently moved to turn her onto her back.

"Truth," she said simply, "Seems a little cheesy now. I was...going through a bad patch at the time," she said quietly, as though ashamed. In reality she was. The only thing she was glad of was that she hadn't got something with no meaning to her. He smiled.

"Actually it's perfect, despite the contradicting problem of you lying to me for a year..." he trailed off, smiling at her. She shook her head.

"Castle..."

"Kate I was joking," he said, quickly pulling her into a kiss and she smiled against it.

"I'm sorry," she said again and his lips found hers again, his arm trailing down her body as he moved them both further up the bed so her head hit his pillow. Somehow he managed to pull back the sheets and deposit them both just under them, while he settled himself between her legs, continuing to kiss her. Suddenly he stopped, a confused look on his face.

"Castle?" she said, a hint of worry in her voice. He looked at her.

"I forgot something," he said quickly and she looked at him, eyes widened wondering what on earth he was about to tell her.

"Castle, you're kind of scaring me..." she trailed off as he swallowed, seemingly still thinking. He looked at her, pressing a kiss to her mouth.

"Nah, no I'm sure it's fine. But let me just check anyway..."

She frowned at him and sat up slightly as he moved away from her face and just as she was about to wonder what the hell was wrong with him, she felt his hand find her centre beneath the sheets and his mouth trail kisses down her chest and stomach. She laughed in relief and swung a playful smack to his head as disappeared beneath the sheet.

The laugh changed to a gasp when she felt his breath over her clit and his tongue dipping out to taste her wetness.

"Oh my god..." she whimpered as he did it again, then again. Her hands clenched and unclenched beside her and her head snapped back in extacy when he took her clit in his mouth, rolling his tongue over it softly at first, then faster.

He grinned against her as he felt her hips rise off the bed. He brought his arm up to rest across her stomach, effectively holding her down before he dipped his head lower and tasted her properly, smiling to himself as he heard her strangled cry above him. He brought his free hand down, resting his thumb on her clit, circling it in time with his mouth as he slowly brought her towards her release.

The sensation of his tongue inside her and his thumb on her clit brought her over the edge. She ground out a scream, turning her head into the pillow so as to muffle it, not wanting his mother or daughter to hear firstly and secondly not wanting his ego to expand even further. She lay panting as he made his way back up her body, grin illuminating his features in the dark, hands trailing over her skin, causing her to convulse almost all over again.

"Castle, if you don't stop touching me, I might never function again," she said warningly and he smirked, kissing her deeply, the taste of her on his lips. It seemed to reignite her, all question of recovery time gone out the window as she brought her leg over his to roll him onto his back. He grinned up at her, sitting up to kiss her again, his knees slightly bent to anchor himself. He realised only then that he still had his boxers on and he reversed their positions again so he was back on top and could remove the offending item. No sooner had they gone than she had put him back on his back again and he laughed happily beneath her. She leaned forward to kiss him and he pushed forward, sitting up again, holding her body tight to his, the tip of him brushing against her teasingly.

They had come to this bridge last night and had briefly discussed protection (I'm on the pill and I'm clean - me too - what? - the clean part - ok) so it wasn't something that came into the equation tonight. As he pushed inside her, her head tilted back and he took the opportunity to suck at her pulse point as he slowly slid inside of her.

They both moaned at the feeling, still getting used to the idea of having each other's body so responsive to them. She pulled her head forward and kissed him soundly as she slowly began to move over him, their breaths and tongues mingling with each movement. He matched her thrust for thrust and soon was mumbling incoherencies into her shoulder.

A few more well timed thrusts and he could feel her beginning to convulse around him. He moved again, dipping his lips to her chest, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking hard on it as he thrust again. Her short, shrill cry told him he was just about there so he sped up and grinned as he felt her tighten and fall around him, her breathing ragged, small cries and whimpers coming from her. When she whispered in his ear that she loved him he came as well, hips bucking erratically into her until he simply stilled holding her tight to him before falling back onto the bed, out of it.

He grinned as she shifted off of him, moving to lie next to him, folding herself into the crook of his arm, both of their breathing starting to return to normal level. He grinned at her and kissed her sweetly, his hand cupping her face. He swallowed.

"Kate, can I ask you something?"

"It was lovely Castle," she said with a mischievous smirk on her face that she couldn't hide.

"No, not that...hang on, lovely? Just lovely?" he asked in mock outrage and she smiled back at him, twisting to wrap an arm over his stomach.

"Well...I could say it was mind blowing but I figured your ego was big enough that it didn't need anymore stroking..." she said flirtatiously and he grinned back at her.

"Are you sure you're talking about my ego?" he quipped and she slapped his chest playfully. He chuckled, tucking her into his arm and kissing her forehead.

"Seriously though, I want to ask you something," he trailed off, waiting for her to agree. She nodded.

"What Esposito said earlier today...about you bring ok with stepping away from the case, leaving it alone... Kate, you're not ok with it, are you?" he said softly. It wasn't inquiring or accusing. It was a simple statement and he could see on her face that she wasn't going to lie to him on this one.

"No Castle, I'm not. Of course I'm not. But I can be and I will be. I promise you," she added in a slightly panicked tone, her arm over his chest tightening as she did. He smiled at her and kissed her forehead again.

"I'm not going anywhere Kate. I know it's not going to be easy for you, I know that for a while, maybe for longer it'll play on your mind. But think of what your mom would want - you to have a life, to be happy. And I'm here. Whatever you need, I will do. Except let you lose yourself again." he added firmly and she smiled up at him.

"You know, your mom was right." she said, kissing him softly.

"I always get worried when someone says that phrase to me," he smirked and she smiled back, tucking her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

"You really don't know how to let anyone down," she said sleepily and he smiled down at her, planting one last kiss to her forehead before drifting off to sleep beside her.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

_I had trouble deciding on the tattoo. I the end I went for something which might be a bit cliched but I think it works ok. For anyone interested it's here: .com/albums/qq111/spacey6000/?action=view¤t;=&newest=1_

_If that link doesn't show up just type Chinese symbol for truth and photo bucket._


	8. Chapter 8

_Sorry this took so long, some real life things unfortunately took precedence. Stupid reality. Short enough chapter but setting up for more to come. Hopefully I can get it up there a bit quicker from now on._

EIGHT

She woke early the following morning, just as she had done on the previous day, wrapped in his arms, legs curled up in his and she sighed happily. Glancing around she saw the nearby clock reading just after 8 am.

Yawning, she released herself from his grasp and moved to the edge of the bed, finding her jeans and putting them on the bed. She looked around briefly but couldn't see any of her underwear. She pulled on the jeans and picked up the blue shirt he had worn the night before, pulling it and buttoning it up.

She stole a quick glance back at him as she headed for the door. He was still out, arms shaped as if they were still wrapped around her. She smiled at that.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

The smell of coffee was what woke him an hour later. He opened his eyes slowly, looking around for her but finding the bed cold and empty. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and swung his legs out of the bed, reaching for the nearest sweat pants and t-shirt.

He padded out through the office and into the kitchen where the sight before warmed his heart. Beckett was pouring coffee into two mugs while Alexis sat at the other side of the counter obviously relaying some fascinating and interesting information to the older woman who was grinning, glancing up at the girl every now and then to show that she was listening.

He found himself just standing in the door frame watching them. He couldn't really hear them. He thought he'd heard Beckett say something about a boy and Alexis nodding her head but he couldn't be sure. He'd have to quiz her later. Or right now.

"What's this I'm hearing about a boy? What's his name, where's he from and how can we run a background check on him?" he said loudly and animatedly, reaching to catch his daughter in a bear hug. Beckett grinned at him. He noticed that behind her the oven was on and he frowned at her. She turned and opened it up and the smell of freshly cooked bacon caught his heart.

"His name's Peter. He lives in Long Island and you can't run a background check on him because his dad's a judge. At least I think you can't…" she added and Castle nodded his head.

"A judge's son. Is he going into law too?"

"No, he wants to be an artist."

Castle pursed his lips, picturing the artists he knew, the successful ones and the not so successful.

"Well, hopefully he's talented," he said, raising his eyebrows and moving around the kitchen island to see what Beckett was splitting onto plates. He leaned in to kiss her cheek as his hand slid across to snare a piece of bacon off a plate. She smirked as he did before pushing a plate across to Alexis and picking up her own to head for the dining table. He smiled and followed.

They ate breakfast in companionable chit-chat, Castle stretching his foot over onto hers every so often and she smiled as he did. Alexis and she chatted easily about college with Beckett giving her a few tips on how to pretend to be awake and how to cram for tests.

"Oh please! She's never crammed in her life – this girl is the perfect student. Too perfect in fact. If you don't get arrested within your first three months of university I'm pulling you from the school!" Castle exclaimed and Beckett turned to him.

"What did you get done for?" she asked it straight out, no hesitation whatsoever. She already knew the answer from his rap sheet way back four years ago. He smirked at her.

"Disorderly conduct. Got drunk at a party and got dared to run down the street naked," he said proudly. She shook her head.

"Just do the opposite of everything your dad did and you should be fine," she said to Alexis who nodded, chuckling.

The sound of Beckett's phone ringing from the bedroom stopped them in their tracks. She stood up saying she was going to run and grab it. Castle offered to clean up their plates and quickly got to work on tidying away the table. Alexis had plans to meet the boy she had been telling Beckett about so she headed for the upstairs bathroom and her bedroom to get ready. Castle cleared off the last of the dishes and headed towards the office, planning to do the same as his daughter. He was going to try and convince Beckett to spend a lazy day with him in Central Park and have dinner with him this evening.

As he rounded the corner into his bedroom, he froze when he saw her on the phone, sitting on the edge of the bed, her hand clenching and unclenching. He looked down at her but she avoided his eye. He sat down next to her, his hand falling on her knee. He didn't know what was up but he wanted her to know that he was there.

"Ok," she said finally, "Yeah I understand. I'll see you there." With that she hung up, sighing loudly as she dropped the phone behind her before leaning forward, elbows on her knees. His hand still lay across her thigh. She took a deep breath. He said nothing, she'd talk when she was ready.

"NYPD didn't accept my resignation," she said finally and he frowned, twisting slightly to look at her.

"Why? Can they do that?" he asked, knowing that you'd see such a plot point in films and TV but he'd never actually heard of it happening to someone real. She nodded her head.

"It happens but it is pretty rare. Gates wants me to come in this afternoon. This is exactly what I don't want Castle, things getting thrown up in the air already..."

He twisted so that he could stretch one leg across the bed behind her and leaned forward.

"Kate...maybe this is a good thing. You quit in a frenzy, you'd almost died, and you were scared. Maybe you need this to really, properly make your decision, get your head around it. I'm not saying to go back or stay away or anything like that, I'll stand by you whatever choice you make, but maybe sitting down and really talking this out with Gates will be good," he said softly.

She smiled and nodded her head.

"I'm going to take a shower," she said in a businesslike tone, standing up and moving towards his ensuite. He smiled as she looked back at him.

"You know that was an invite Castle, right?" she smirked at him and he stood up.

"You really are the perfect woman." he said, following after her.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.


	9. Chapter 9

NINE

_Sorry sorry sorry! Real life took over. And my laptop broke down and was in the shop until just yesterday. Should really be buying a new one but unfortunately they require these coin shaped things in exchange for one and I don't have many._

_Oh well…_

_Hopefully I can get more of this out before it decides to break down again._

_CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE_

Castle watched from the edge of the bed, in his dressing gown, as she dressed, a smirk on his face. She looked down at him and he smiled.

"You know they want to see you too, right?" she said suddenly and he raised an eyebrow.

"What? Why do they want to see me?" he said. She shook her head. She didn't know why. All she'd heard when Ryan phoned was that her resignation hadn't been accepted and her presence was requested. He'd closed off with 'oh you're to bring Castle too.'

"I don't know Castle. Maybe she wants to rub in the fact that you're getting kicked out too," she shrugged and he nodded slowly before moving to his chest of drawers and grabbing some clothes.

"I'll make some coffee," she said and he nodded as she exited the room, leaving him to quickly pull on his jeans and wonder what exactly Gates wanted him in the Precinct for.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

They both rode the elevator at the Twelfth Precinct a little over an hour later. She looked apprehensive and he was still wondering what exactly he'd been summoned for. Whatever it was, the fact that Captain Gates had actually _asked_ for him to attend couldn't be good.

"Hey, you ok?" she asked, suddenly noticing his overloud sigh. He nodded his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I, I don't know. Something's not right about this…"

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. She nodded toward the door.

"Guess it's time to find out what," she said stepping out ahead of him.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Ryan stood up when he saw them come in and nodded his head. There was no sign of Esposito so Beckett presumed whatever was going on didn't result in his suspension being lifted. She hadn't expected it would and she didn't expect that hers would be either. That was when she mentally scolded herself. She'd resigned, they could lift whatever they want but she was done.

The fact that her mind jumped to that conclusion worried her though. Maybe Castle was right. Maybe she hadn't properly thought this through. Maybe not having police work to keep her focused on something else would be the death knell for her sanity and her relationship with Castle. And she didn't want that but she knew it was possible.

"So what's going on Ryan?" she said, glancing towards Gates office but noticing that there was no one there. She caught sight of her desk, complete with Castle chair next to it and smiled. Damn it, she thought to herself, fond memories were not going to help her resolve here. Castle didn't miss the look and he shared it with her. Ryan didn't miss either look.

"What's with you two? You're both smiling like you've just sprinkled laxative in the coffee machine….you haven't have you?" he asked as an afterthought, knowing that that was the kind of behaviour that could have been expected of Castle once upon a time.

"No Ryan, you can relax. I'm just thinking about something," she said quickly. Castle chose to keep his thoughts to himself. Beckett aimed an inquisitive look at Ryan and he shrugged.

"I don't know. She just came out this morning, told me to get you on the phone, get Castle and get Javi on the phone; she needed to talk to us all urgently. I don't know. She's been in and out to meetings with the Police Commissioner for the last two days. And she's been in a foul mood, ordered me to cease all investigation that was ongoing on the case – put me on a routine pop and drop for god's sake…" he ranted but Castle was frowning. He'd latched onto something Ryan had said and was pulling his phone from his pocket. He stepped back to lean against the desk while he keyed in some digits.

Beckett frowned. Now was not the time for him to play Angry Birds. But she said nothing. She remained chatting to Ryan while Castle did whatever it was he was doing. She was just about to scold him for being anti-social when Gates arrive, followed by two very official looking men in suits, one of whom was the unmistakeable figure of Police Commissioner Howard Smith. Beckett didn't recognise the other, younger man who seemed to be giving the group a thorough once over. Castle looked up and quickly palmed the phone back into his pocket, standing to attention for the boss of the NYPD.

"Detective Beckett," Captain Gates said coolly. Beckett didn't bother to correct her, she got the feeling it wouldn't be appreciated.

"I'm sure you recognise Commissioner Smith,"

"I do. Pleasure to meet you sir," she said shaking his hand when he extended it. He was a tall men, with charcoal coloured hair, greying around the edges but he was imposing looking and she got the impression that he had been a tough cop in his day. She'd heard stories about him in the Seventh Precinct but had only briefly met him at a police ball maybe two years ago. He'd been commissioner for three.

"And this is Detective Joe Abbott," Gates added, heading for her office. Beckett nodded her head to the detective, wondering what his presence was for. Gates ushered Smith and Abbott into the room ahead of her before motioning for the others to follow. Esposito had arrived unknown to any of them, while the commissioner had been making his entrance. He shot a glance at Beckett and nodded his head. Beckett nodded back. At least he seemed to have gotten over his earlier issues. She took a deep breath as they entered the office, Gates puling the door closed behind them.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE


	10. Chapter 10

TEN

Gates, Smith and Abbott sat on one side of the desk in the overcrowded office while the other four sat and stood on the other side. Beckett was very much starting to feel like she was facing a firing squad and she wasn't liking the looks she was getting from Abbott as he scanned his eyes over them every so often. Who the hell was this guy?

"Detective Beckett, I'm sure Detective Ryan informed you why you were here?" Gates was all business. Not that she wasn't usually but she was doubly so today. Beckett supposed it was because the big guns were in the room.

"Yes, sir. Though, with all due respect, I can't understand why I'm back here. I broke every protocol regulation in the book and I resigned. I would have thought that was case closed," she said firmly but respectfully.

Gates sat back in her chair, mulling over her answer for a moment before straightening her posture.

"Well, I'm sure you know Detective that despite this mishap, we're keen not to lose you. You and your team do have one of the highest solve rates in the city and, like it or not, you're high profile and your resignation will do nothing to help us in tackling crime," Gates sounded like she was grasping at straws Castle thought. There was something else going on here and he didn't like the way that Abbott guy was staring at everyone.

"Well, with all due respect sir, it was _my_ decision to resign. It's up to me to reconsider that action, not the NYPD," she said, careful not to push too hard for fear that maybe, at the last minute, she might decide that yes, she still did want to be a cop.

In fact she knew she did, she just didn't know how to tell Castle that. He'd never asked her to quit, she knew that and knew he wouldn't but she couldn't help but get the feeling that it would put a strain on them before they'd even begun.

Gates sat back in her chair again and looked at the commissioner who nodded his head and took a deep breath. He sat forward in his chair, elbows resting on the desk.

"The simple fact is Ms. Beckett…" He used her name rather than her title. Beckett tilted her head slightly at that. Behind her, Castle did too. That was interesting. Smith continued,

"…we are unable to process your resignation just yet. There are some outstanding issues with it," he said firmly and Beckett got the impression that he wasn't argued with very often. She raised an eyebrow.

"Issues, sir? What kind of issues?" She had a sinking feeling in her stomach and the nervous look on Gates' face wasn't helping to calm it any. She knew what it was that had unnerved her now about the commissioner's addressing of her. Gates had been calling her Detective as a message to Smith, _she's my detective and I want her to remain so. _Smith's response was clear, he had no intention of seeing Beckett brandishing the title of Detective in the future. She swallowed hard and waited for whatever was to come.

"Discipline issues, going back over the last year or so. We were made aware them in the aftermath of your little 'adventure' two days ago and we believe that until we've dealt with those issues, you will have to remain a member of the NYPD. Strictly on desk duty of course," he added, with a thin smile. She frowned.

"I'm afraid I'm not following you sir, what exactly are you saying?"

"I'm saying, Ms. Beckett, that you and your entire team are under investigation. For incidents leading up to, surrounding and following the death of Captain Roy Montgomery. I might add that if he were still with us, he would be under investigation too," Smith said, pursing his lips slightly and watching as Beckett's mouth opened in shock. She closed it again and cast a glance at Abbott.

"You're Internal Affairs," she said simply and he nodded, a slightly smug look on his face and Beckett took a deep breath, "I don't understand what you expect to find?" she said, remaining calm and Castle was watching her with awe. Confronted with the very case and secret they'd been hiding for a year and she was still as bad ass as ever. The commissioner leaned forward further on the table.

"Well, I'll tell you Beckett, I expect Detective Abbott here to find evidence of corruption on Captain Montgomery's part, evidence of a cover up of that knowledge on you and your team's part and evidence of an ongoing investigation into your mother's case without proper procedure or notification. Throw in your escapades from the other day and I reckon we'll have quite a strong case against you all. Even you, Mr. Castle," he added, casting a glance up at the writer who was standing just behind Beckett's chair. He took a deep breath. He was dying to say something pithy in reply but knew it wouldn't help their case so he just stood defiantly, staring right back at the man speaking to him, not caring that he was one of the most powerful men in the city.

Smith stood, joined by Abbott and they made their way to the other side of the room. At the last minute, Abbott turned back.

"I'll be conducting interviews all day tomorrow, I want you all to make yourselves available for questioning. You've all been assigned to desk duty until further notice. Except you, of course, Mr. Castle. You can go get photographed in Central Park or, whatever it is that you do," There was a snigger in his tone and Castle would have loved to have punched it out of him. Instead, he returned a smug smile.

"Actually, we snort cocaine off of hookers' asses but I guess I should save the gritty details for my interview," he said smartly and Abbott stifled back a laugh before walking out the door, letting it swing shut behind him.

There was a brief pause before anyone spoke again.

"Hookers' asses?" Beckett asked incredulously and Castle turned around, pointing his finger back towards Abbott.

"Hey, he prejudged me, I'll be damned if I'm not going to revert to a classic stereotype…" he replied and she could tell he was really angry despite the joke. The clearing of a throat behind them brought them back to attention. They turned to look at Gates.

"As much as you might think I'm the bad guy here, I think it's time you told me everything that's been going on behind my back for the last year," she said sternly and they glanced at each other. Finally Beckett nodded and signalled for the rest to sit down.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Gates sat and listened as Beckett told the story of the last year and beyond, pausing every so often to ensure that she had everything in order or to let Castle cut in with a detail or an incident here or there that she might have missed. She was almost glad now that she had brought a story teller along. He seemed to have a much more linear grasp of it then her. Then she remembered that he'd been investigating it behind her back for a year. That fact still stung her a little but she was coming around to the reasons why he'd done it.

"Mr. Castle, you seem to have a better understanding of this than anyone," Gates pointed out and he nodded.

"I'm a writer, I grasp plot easily," he brushed it aside but Gates wasn't fooled.

"What are you not telling me? Believe me, it's better if I know everything."

Castle looked at Beckett and she nodded. He took a deep breath.

"I know all about the case because…for the last year I've been investigating it behind Kate's back," he said, pausing when he felt Ryan and Esposito's gaze land on him. They hadn't been privy to any of these details at lunch the other day and now he was being forced to reveal it all, again, to people who would likely be angry with him. He glanced at Kate and she smiled briefly, giving him the strength to continue on.

"Before he died, Montgomery sent a file to a man he knew and trusted, someone who called himself Mr. Smith. After Kate got shot, he contacted me and told me that he had information about the people behind her shooting and her mother's murder. In return for him not releasing that information, they would leave Kate alone but it was with a request of their own – she had to stop investigating the case."

He took another deep breath, still feeling the boys' gaze on him before he continued.

"So, for the last year, I've been trying to keep Kate away from it. But I couldn't just leave it at that because I know how important it is to her so I did my own investigating and I was going to tell her if I found something, if there was something that was too big and too promising to keep from her. But now, it's all gone crazy and with Internal Affairs going to be sniffing around it, they're going to retaliate, thinking it's us…" he trailed off, sighing and risking a glance at Ryan and Esposito, surprised when he found that neither of them looked that pissed off. He calmed down a little at that.

In front of them Gates was nodding her head, finally filled in on the story. She'd been writing furiously for the duration of their chat and she was looking back over her pages now in interest. She sighed.

"Ok. I need to sit down and think about this. All of you, go home. Get some rest and be in here early tomorrow. I want to talk to you all before Abbott does. Beckett, Castle, hold on a second," she said as they moved to leave. Ryan and Esposito slipped out, letting the door close behind them.

Gates shot a glance from Beckett to Castle and back again a couple of times. She was frowning but she didn't look angry.

"Mr. Castle, you risked your safety and the safety of your family, to hide all of this from Detective Beckett. Meanwhile _you_ did what Mr. Smith told you to stop Detective Beckett from doing, putting you and your family at further risk. Have I got that right?" she said and Castle got the impression that she wasn't going to scold him for going against police protocol.

"I was very careful about staying under the radar. I found nothing really…" he said, shrugging his shoulders. She nodded her head.

"But yet you did it. Care to tell me why?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Beckett looked at her, frowning. She glanced at Castle who blinked at Gates' question.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you risked everything for Detective Beckett. I want to know why. And I want to know why because Internal Affairs will want to know why and you'd damn well better have a good answer for them."

Castle looked at Beckett who shrugged and he half smirked. She was ok with this, she wasn't giving him a death stare, she was leaving it up to him. He looked back at Gates and answered,

"Because I love her."

The entire room skipped a beat, then Gates sighed.

"That's what I thought you'd say. Ok. Go home, both of you. I need to sit down and think about all of this. Think about how best to limit the damage."

Beckett looked at her, surprised, wondering if the way she was reading Gates' was what she thought it was.

"Are you saying you're going to help us cheat on the interviews? Isn't that practically impossible?" she asked as she and Castle stood. Gates looked up at her and smiled, shaking her head.

"You forget Detective. I used to work in Internal Affairs."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok, so there's another chapter done and dusted and my laptop is holding firm. Hurrah! Let's all send it happy thoughts so that it keeps going for me. Hope to have more soon. Big thanks to all those reviewing and constantly reviewing. To those who're remaining incognito, come say hi and tell me if you like!_


	11. Chapter 11

_DE-LIGHTED with response to last chapter. Thank you all so much. It took a while to get to the plot but I did it! Hurrah!_

_Hopefully I can keep it somewhat believable now. Note: I'm not sure what way Internal Affairs in the US or anywhere for that matter, works. Probably a suspended cop being investigated would remain so or if they'd resigned they'd remain so but hey it's fan fiction and it's my story!_

ELEVEN

Castle and Beckett hung around just long enough to make conversation with Ryan and Esposito before deciding that there was no point in doing a post mortem on what had happened inside. The fact that their captain seemed to be on side with them was vital and Beckett trusted her to come up with a strategy for them. There was nothing for them to do but go home.

She caught Castle's eye and signalled toward the elevator and he nodded. They bid their goodnight to the other two, who seemed to be back on talking terms at least and headed for the elevator.

As the doors closed, she let out a loud sigh and dropped her head on his shoulder.

"Internal Affairs," she said wistfully, "Unless Gates comes up with something big, we're screwed." He didn't know what to say, so he just turned his head and planted a soft kiss in her hair.

"It'll be fine Beckett, we'll get through this," he tried to sound as strong as he could be she looked up at him.

"Castle, they're going to start investigating and these guys are going to come for me. How can we get out of telling them that?" she was shaking her head and he could see the panic in her eyes. He took her face in his hands and planted a soft kiss on her lips.

"Kate, listen to me. I am not going to let anything happen to you, I promise. They can try but they are not taking you away from me, you understand?"

She knew it was all words and tough talk, knew that if she couldn't fight these guys Castle definitely couldn't. But it didn't matter. It was the emotion behind the words that got her and she found herself maybe not believing him but feeling more reassured and she nodded her head.

"Ok," she said softly and he kissed her again.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

They had dinner later that evening with Martha and Alexis and settled down in front of the TV with both to watch trashy shows with popcorn and make jokes. Alexis was already getting excited for university despite the fact that terms didn't start for another couple of months.

"I've got to start planning what I want to bring and when I'm going to move all my stuff to my dorm and there's just not enough time…" Alexis was saying and Beckett was smiling at the enthusiasm of the teenager sat in front of her.

"Alexis, calm down! You're moving a few blocks away. It's not as if you can't come home if you forget something!" he smirked and she threw him a dirty look.

"Dad, I told you, you're not allowed to get possessive. I need my space and you're so not allowed to drop in uninvited," she said suddenly with a look of horror on her face such that Beckett curled her knees up to her chin and chuckled.

Castle pouted before sitting back in his seat, shoulder brushing off Beckett's. He looked at her, made a comment about 'after all he'd done for his daughter' and feigned a puppy dog style sad face. Alexis stood up and walked over to the couch, leaning forward to place a kiss on her father's forehead.

"You'll get over it Dad."

"I don't think I will," he said sniffing and Alexis stood back.

"Well if you're sure nothing will help then I'm taking the last of the ice cream from the fridge…" As she moved to walk away, Castle reached forward and grabbed her, pulling her back down onto the couch next to him. Beckett laughed as the teenager landed between her and Castle, shrieking as she did. Martha shook her head, raising her eyes to heaven as she stood.

"I'm not sure which one is the bigger kid, him or her."

"Him. Definitely him." Becket responded as Alexis managed to pull out of her father's grasp, bidding him goodnight as she did so. She wanted to go Skype a friend in her room and then she was going to get some sleep. Castle smiled and nodded to her. Martha followed after her, leaving the two alone on the couch, the TV long since muted in front of them.

"You want to stay up a while?" he asked, his arm reaching around her, fingers drumming some unknown rhythm onto her shoulder. She looked at him and smiled before shaking her head.

"No. I actually, I just want to curl up in bed with you and forget all about this day," she said softly and he smiled before thinking about earlier that morning.

"All of it?" he asked quickly and she chuckled as she stood.

"Maybe not all of it, it started off pretty well," she corrected, walking towards his room. He switched off the TV and followed her.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

She hadn't been joking. She'd literally gone into the room, brushed her teeth in his en suite bathroom. Then, while he'd been in there, she rummaged through his wardrobe and found a t-shirt of his to wear and crawled into bed.

When he returned, the image of her curled up in his bed in his t-shirt warmed his heart and he stripped to his boxers and climbed in behind her, spooning her, his lips automatically finding a spot on her neck to kiss.

"You ok?" he said softly and felt her nod her head in front of him. He tightened his grip around her and pulled her close to him, "You sure?" He knew by her, even already, that she was worried. Hell, he was too. She turned in his arms, slipping a leg in between his two.

"I'm kinda freaking out, Rick," she said, slotting her head in beneath his chin and he swallowed, bringing a hand up to the back of her head, his fingers in her hair.

"I know. I am too," he said, knowing that it was better to be honest with her at times like this than to try and be flamboyant and tell her everything would be fine. It was what she needed to hear earlier on in the elevator but now, when it was just them, he knew he could tell her the truth.

She sighed against his chest and the warmth of it tickled his skin. He placed a soft kiss on her head and tightened his grip on her. She didn't say anything more and he couldn't bring himself to continue on that line of conversation. He shifted slightly next to her so that they were face to face. Her eyes were closed but he knew she was still awake.

"I like it when you say my name," he said softly and her eyes opened, a smile reaching all the way from her mouth to the creases of them.

"Yeah?"

He nodded his head, letting his hand run down her side onto her thigh. She smiled and edged closer to him.

"I like it when you say mine too," she said almost shyly.

"Really? Whenever I say it you always shoot me a look," he said, his thumb tapping out a rhythm on her thigh which he had pulled up over his hip to get closer to her. She had smirked when he did, her lips coming within an inch of his.

"That's because you'd say it in front of Gates or the boys and they already thought something was going on!" she chuckled, resting a hand on his cheek. He turned his head and placed a kiss on her palm.

"Well, they were right. You just couldn't see it," he teased.

"I could. I just…well, you know all of this…" she trailed off and he smiled so she continued, "Castle, there were so many times in the last year that I wanted to tell you I loved you but…I guess at the end of it all, there's nothing like falling off a building to give you some encouragement…" she stifled a laugh and he leaned forward, kissing her softly, turning her so she rolled onto her back, letting him settle above her. He balanced on one elbow above her while his other one roamed over her body, softly.

"You can tell me as often as you like now, I won't get tired of hearing it," he whispered against her lips before kissing her again.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett woke sometime later that night and sat up. She looked over at the clock beside his sleeping form. It was 4am She sighed and flopped back down, her head hitting the pillow. His arm was laced around her waist and she smiled at how cuddly and territorial he was. She'd never expected anything different.

But she couldn't get back to sleep and soon her squirming around roused him from his own slumber.

"Kate?" he said sleepily, "are you ok?" His eyes hadn't yet opened and she felt really bad for waking him now. She sighed.

"Sorry, I can't sleep," she whispered quietly before running a hand across his cheek, "You go back to sleep, I'm fine." He shook his head without opening his eyes.

"Nah-uh, tell me what's wrong."

She chuckled.

"Castle, it's 4am. I'll tell you tomorrow,"

"You won't sleep if you don't talk out what's bothering you," he said matter of factly and she groaned as she burrowed back into the bed covers next to him.

"Ok. When I was…are you even awake?" she said suddenly, noticing that he still hadn't opened his eyes. She poked him in the shoulder and he smiled back at her, eyes still closed.

"Yes I'm awake but if I open my eyes the sight of you in my bed will just distract me…" he grinned and she shook her head, chuckling.

"God Castle, I didn't realise you found it that hard to control yourself around me…" she teased, pushing her body up against his and running a hand over his bare stomach. He moaned softly.

"Four years Kate, four years. That's all I'm saying,"

She chuckled and settled down against his chest, his arm wrapped around her. He squeezed her softly as a reminder that she was going to talk about something. She sighed.

"Rick, I know I asked you if it bothered you that I wasn't a cop and you said it didn't, right?"

"Correct."

"Would it bother you if I told you that, actually, despite everything, I still do want to be a cop? I know I told you I'd resigned and I didn't need it but…I do. It's part of who I am, Rick and I know I can separate myself from all the horrible things, I know it won't be easy but…"

He interrupted her before she could finish. He had opened his eyes and was smiling at her as she babbled.

"Kate. I never asked you to stop being a cop and I never would. If that's what you want to do, I'm right behind you. I told you already, whatever you need me to do I will do. Except let you lose yourself. That promise remains, whether you're a cop or not," his voice had turned to a whisper and she smiled as he leaned forward to plant a kiss on her lips.

She smiled into the kiss, not caring that it was 4 o clock in the morning and that they had to be up in a couple of hours. She suddenly realised something that had taken her four years. The only thing she'd been missing for them was him. The thought suddenly made her very afraid of what was going to happen in the coming days with Internal Affairs. She broke away from him, vocalising that very thought. He held her close.

"How about we cross that bridge when we come to it? Come on, let's get some sleep," he said softly and she nodded, turning away so that he could fold his body around hers, his hand coming to rest over her heart. She smiled and brought her own hand up to cover his.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok, bit of a random chapter there. I had intended to drop another bombshell towards the end of this one but it wasn't reading right so I saved it for someplace else. Hope everyone is still enjoying. There's a lot of fluff but it's just so much fun to write! More soon._


	12. Chapter 12

TWELVE

_Ok, back to the plot. Hope everyone's still with me. Appreciate all the feedback! It may get a little mixed up and convoluted from here – the plot becomes a little unclear in my head, therefore it does the same on the page!_

_CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE_

They woke early the following morning, Beckett first. She glanced at the clock which ad 6:30 am and she groaned. Little more than two hours ago they had been awake, discussing what was going to come. She moved to slip out from under the arm he had strewn across her but she felt it tighten almost immediately.

"How do you do that?" she mumbled as she tried again.

"Sss a reflex..." he replied, "when I get something I like I hang onto it..." She grinned at that before finally prying his arm off of her and heading for the bathroom.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

An hour later they were walking out the door. Beckett had phoned ahead to Gates who had told her to be in for around eight. Internal Affairs usually didn't even think about functioning until after nine.

Her hand twitched in his on the way over in the taxi. He gave it a sight squeeze to reassure her.

"Gates will have thought of something. We'll be fine," he said quietly and she nodded.

Ryan and Esposito were already in the Bull Pen when they arrived and they greeted each other as they would normally. There was an air of nervousness in the place, even amongst the small number of other officers who were milling about. No one spoke. Castle eventually, because he needed to do something, asked if anyone wanted coffee, before heading for the break room to brew it up.

"What's going on there?" Esposito asked after the writer had left the room. Beckett looked at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you two don't appear to have left each other's sight for the last two days, even though he walked out on the case."

Beckett bit her bottom lip and took a deep breath.

"Javi I don't need this right now..." she said pleadingly and he nodded his head, holding his hands up.

"Just answer one thing, are you two back on good terms again?" he asked with a hint of teasing in his voice and Beckett knew then that Lanie hadn't been able to keep quiet after their dinner. She smirked and nodded.

"Yeah Espo. Things are good," she said just as the man in question returned with two coffees. He passed one to Beckett before taking a sip of the other one himself. He leaned back against Beckett's desk, noticing absently that she was sitting in what had always been designated his chair. He bit back a smirk at that.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

As it turned out, Gates had had a hard time trying to figure some way for them to limit the damage their interviews were about to do. In the end all she could do was to tell them to think before they said anything and keep the detail to the absolute minimum.

"Most of your cases can't hurt you because they were cases which related to something else but ended up being connected. It's the last year that's the problem but it's more a problem for Beckett and Castle than you two. As regards Captain Montgomery, they're unlikely to find anything against a dead man so you're best to be honest with them on that."

She dismissed Ryan and Esposito but asked the other two to hang back. She sighed as she looked them over.

"You two are a little more complicated..." she said, pausing and Castle had to bite back a comment. She had no idea how complicated they had been. Gates sighed in front of them.

"Even if Beckett survives this, the likelihood is you won't Castle."

He looked at her, eyes slightly wide at that remark.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean your tenure in this Precinct is more than likely over. It was fine when you were assisting but starting your own investigation and keeping it from the proper authorities, that's crossing way over the line," she said shooting him a sympathetic look. He shrugged.

"I don't care about that if Kate can keep her job," he said flippantly. He didn't either. He could always keep abreast of these things through Beckett but really, it didn't make any difference to him. As long as he had her he didn't care about anything else. Gates nodded.

"That's the other thing. They're going to want to know why you did what you did. I hate to say it Castle, but a lot of weight is going to come down on you in this interview. Beckett's actions are somewhat understandable given that it's her mother's case. She shouldn't have been on it but it can somewhat be justified. They're going to want your justification for doing what you did," she said and he shook his head, confused.

"I thought I told you yesterday? I'm in love with her; I wanted to keep her away from it so I wouldn't have to ride in the back of an ambulance while she bled out in front of me again. I don't know what more you want me to say…" he said, glancing at Beckett briefly, wondering if she might jump in here but she was looking straight ahead at Gates.

"You two are an item now?" she asked quickly and he was surprised when Beckett replied almost immediately.

"Yes."

Gates nodded her head and sighed again. She was about to speak again when there was a knock on her door. All three looked over to see Detective Abbott walk in. He stood by the door.

"Captain Gates, I trust you're not prepping my interviewees?" he said smugly and she returned a courteous smile.

"Just trying to understand how much trouble they're in," she replied sharply and he nodded his head before saying he was going to start with Ryan and Esposito. Gates nodded her head and he pulled the door closed. Beckett saw him signal Ryan to follow him and headed to one of the interrogation rooms. Fitting, she thought.

"Starting with Ryan because he was the one who alerted me two days ago. He thinks he's the soft touch…" Gates said quickly, narrating exactly what Castle and Beckett were thinking.

"He'll be sorely disappointed," Castle said quickly.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Gates dismissed them soon after and they sat waiting with Esposito while Ryan was inside. They didn't speak. Castle made some more coffee and they wiled away the minutes, thinking about what they were going to be asked or told.

Finally, Ryan returned, looking…defiant, Beckett thought. Esposito didn't get a chance to ask him what had happened, he was called straight in and Ryan took his seat. The other two leaned in close to him so as not to be heard by anyone else that was around. The Bull Pen was suspiciously clear today and Beckett suspected Gates had had something to do with that.

"I had to tell him about Montgomery," Ryan said, "How we figured it out, what we did afterwards…I told him we'd agreed to bury it, that Montgomery was our captain and a good man…"

"What he say?" Beckett asked.

"Told me it was our civic duty to report dirty cops. First thing we should have done was call it in apparently. I told him we'd tried to call you but you were already gone to the warehouse…I didn't tell him what happened there because I didn't know. I only turned up after you called. He's going to grill you about that though, watch out. I told him I didn't know the details of his involvement, just that he was connected to the case somehow." Ryan sighed, sitting back in the chair.

Beckett mirrored his move and Castle simply sat pondering. He took out his phone and began to type something into it. Beckett ignored him. He was probably nervous. Or terrified.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett was called in next and that made Castle even more nervous. He wouldn't have the chance to talk to her before he went in and it also gave him the sinking feeling that he was last in and could be the one to finish them all. He took a deep breath and leaned forward.

"Oh boy…" he said, clasping his hands together. The other two looked at him.

"Calm down Castle. It's not so bad." Esposito said quickly. Castle sat back.

"Yeah, thanks," he said before going back to his phone again. Ryan watched him.

"What is so interesting on your phone?" he asked incredulously and Castle shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm just browsing. Keeps my mind off of it," he said, swallowing hard again. The three of them glanced toward the interrogation room where Beckett was currently being interviewed, all of them knowing that this was likely to be the breaker.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett pushed the door to the interrogation room closed behind her and quickly took a seat at the table in front of Abbott. She crossed her ankle over her knee and sat back in the chair. She might not be confident but she might as well exude it. Abbott watched her carefully, probably looking for a tell of some kind.

When he didn't find one he looked down at the file in his hand.

"So, Kate Beckett, youngest female to make Detective, best solve rate in the city, has a best selling book series based on her… it's hard to know where to even start with you," he said smugly and she smiled thinly. He looked away, thumbing through the file.

"How about…your mother's murder. Seems as good a place as any," he said, lifting his head and she gritted her teeth before nodding and saying 'fine'. He was trying to put her at unease from the off. She'd be damned if she was going to let him.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok so I'm not sure about how this or the future scenes are written. I have no clue of how these interviews go or anything like that so people are going to have to just use their imaginations! I left out Ryan and Espo's because they're standard. It's Beckett's and Castle's that I foresee plot points in. Please read and review! Any suggestions welcome._


	13. Chapter 13

_*facepalm._

_Proper Chapter 13 below!  
_

_OK, it's chapters like this that make me wish I had a beta reader or something. I've done my best with this to make it read right. The next chapter is Castle's interview and it's going to be even more revelatory, though I'm not sure this one is even that._

_Any feedback will be appreciated on this, good or bad._

THIRTEEN

"So you were 19 when your mother was stabbed and left for dead in an alley…" Abbott began and Beckett smirked, shaking her head.

"I hope you didn't work Violent Crimes with that demeanour. Yes, I was 19. My dad and I were meeting her for dinner but she didn't show. When we went home, Detective Raglan was there waiting for us," she said calmly. She'd told this story a hundred times. She wasn't going to let a needling IA guy provoke her into losing her cool.

He nodded and thumbed through the file a little further.

"And you went a little off the rails after that I hear? Drinking and sleeping around, possibly doing some drugs?" he raised an eyebrow at her and she tilted her head.

"What, did you track down my therapist?" she scoffed but he was deadly serious.

"Both of them. Dr. Burke as well. He tells me you were suffering from PTSD this year…"

She took a deep breath and reached for the glass of water that was on the table in front of her. She knew he'd consider it a tell but the fact was she was just thirsty. She nodded her head.

"Yeah, well I got shot in the heart. I was technically dead for a while, it took a little bit of time to get over that," she said sarcastically and he nodded, thumbing on another page or two. She couldn't understand the order of his questions. There was no linearity, no logic, everything was mixed up. Maybe that was what he was trying to do to her.

"Tell me about Captain Roy Montgomery," he said finally.

"He was my captain; he was a good man…"

"He was involved in your mother's murder," Abbott said bluntly and Beckett swallowed hard. She shook her head.

"I don't know anything about that," she said firmly. It wasn't a total lie. She didn't really know much about it. She knew Montgomery didn't pull any trigger or swing the blade at her mother. She knew he was involved in the dirty cops' side of it but her mother wasn't murdered by cops, at least not beat ones like Raglan or Montgomery.

"What do you know about Montgomery's association with Raglan and the others?" Abbott pried further and Beckett shook her head.

"Not much. Just that they used to be on the beat together. He was young and they took him under their wing…" A thought suddenly occurred to her that Abbott was grasping. He didn't look nearly as confident as she had originally thought.

"You were with Raglan the day he was shot. Why?"

"He said he had some information for me about my mother's death but he never got the chance to tell me anything. He was hit with a kill shot pretty much as soon as he opened his mouth," she said remembering that day, watching Castle trying to clean blood of his hands before saying anxiously that he'd thought she had been hit.

"Why didn't you pass it on to another detective?" She looked up at him.

"Because he asked specifically for me and wouldn't talk to anybody else. I brought Castle as back-up, I figured meeting him in a public place wasn't going to be over and above dangerous. Plus, I was armed," she recited the story in an almost bored voice, wondering where exactly he was going with this or any of his questions for that matter.

He sat back in his chair and looked her over for a couple of moments, as if he was scanning her or something. It made her uncomfortable and she took a deep breath, looking away from his gaze.

"What happened in the warehouse?" he asked, without bothering to clarify what he meant. Beckett had prepared for this and had told the others too that they had only been called to the warehouse later.

"I don't know. I got there too late. Montgomery was already dead, along with a few more."

"Why were you there?"

"He called me and asked me to come. I didn't make it in time."

"Why did you cover up the story about Captain Montgomery?" he asked suddenly.

"What story?"

"The fact that he was involved with Raglan and the others," Abbott replied quickly.

"Because all three men were dead. Why drag their families through the dirt for nothing?" she said impassionedly. While her disappointment with Montgomery had been substantial she had always maintained that his family did not need to know about his misgivings. They should be allowed to remember him as a good man and a great dad, who died in the line of duty. Protecting one of his own. Beckett, all of a sudden, felt a surge of pain in her chest for the man who had given his life to save hers.

"That's not the point Detective Beckett. The point is, protocol has to be covered, every incident accounted for. We've had no idea why Montgomery was targeted until now. Because you covered it up and by doing that, you covered up his own crimes which makes you no better than him in the end," Abbott was firmer now, more dogged and forceful but Beckett wasn't going to let him push her around.

"I exercised a human quality rather than cop one – compassion. Because I didn't want his wife and his daughters thinking that their dad died a bad man because he wasn't. He made a mistake and he spent every waking moment after that trying to absolve himself. So don't you try to put a black flag over his grave now because I will rip it down," she had felt her voice rising mid conversation but hadn't checked herself. Abbott was staring at her now, smug but also surprised. Probably at how defiant she had been. He had probably expected her to say as little as possible and feign ignorance but she'd been annoyed at both his line and method of questioning.

"What mistake?" Abbott barely skipped a beat before asking what would prove to be his last question. Beckett blinked.

"What?"

"You said Captain Montgomery made a mistake, that he spent the rest of his life trying to make amends. What was that mistake?" His voice was firm, full of venom and Beckett knew then that the questions about her mother and everything else had just been to put her at ease. They'd really been after Montgomery and she had just put her foot in it big time. They hadn't known

She sighed and realised that she had no choice but to explain, very briefly, what she knew about the three renegade cops from 19 years ago. She'd been tricked and now, she and the rest of her team were more than likely done for.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok, I think this reads a little stiffly or something. It was really tough to write especially considering I'm making most of the plot up as I go along. If anyone has any comments or suggestions I'd greatly appreciate them._

_Read and review, thanks!_


	14. Chapter 14

_Hey, sorry for the delay. Hope everyone is still with me and enjoying. This chapter is really plot-advancing. Appreciate all comments and feedback._

FOURTEEN

Castle looked up when he heard the door opening and saw Beckett walking out shoulders dropped, a defeated look on her face. He swallowed and tried to catch her eye.

"Kate?" he said softly and she shook her head. He was about to ask when Abbott stuck his head out the door and called him in. He exhaled loudly and stood up, slipping his phone into his pocket. As he passed by her, he leaned slightly so his arm brushed off of hers. It wasn't much but he hoped it might have acted as some kind of reassurance or solace.

He stepped in past Abbot just as Gates' door opened and she came over to Beckett, eyebrows raised. Beckett shook her head.

"He played me. He didn't even ask about Maddox. All he wanted was Montgomery and he drew me out on it..."

"What happened?" Gates asked and Beckett explained how in her haste she had let slip about Montgomery's secret. She shook her head, "I should have said something, pretended I didn't know...Damn it." Gates bit her bottom lip.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

Castle sat and crossed his ankle over his leg, sniffing slightly before looking up at Abbott.

"So, Mr. Castle. About those hookers and cocaine..."

Castle laughed before looking and seeing that he was deadly serious.

"You're kidding me."

Abbott grinned.

"I am but it was worth it to see your face. Good icebreaker, huh?"

Castle wasn't amused. "You should be a chat show host." he said coolly. Abbott nodded before sitting back in his chair. He had Castle's criminal record. Castle waited for the horse to rear up.

"Quite a rap sheet for professional author," Abbott said nodding towards the file he had spotted Castle looking at. Castle shook his head.

"You know that was the same thing Beckett said to me when she interrogated me four years ago. Better ice breaker than yours," he said. Abbott nodded his head.

"She questioned you about a crime, is that right?" Castle nodded his head.

"And after, what? You decided you wanted to follow her around?"

"I wanted to get a first hand look at how the NYPD worked. It was research." Castle said pointedly. Abbott nodded again. He was a nodder Castle realised. He had one of those smug nods that told you he was listening and judging at the same time.

"And do you normally need four years of research for a book?"

"Depends on the book," Castle replied, "I'm on my fourth book based around experiences with Beckett and her team. The NYPD has always been happy with the good publicity." he said, careful not to say anything too contentious.

"Well, everyone I've spoken to refers to you as if you're part of the team. You work theories; you go on takedowns and to crime scenes. You've wheedled your way in..." he said, clasping his hands together. Castle shrugged.

"If it's working for everyone I'm not in the habit of suggesting we change it. I'm happy here."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?"

"Why are you happy here? You're a writer, why would you want to hang out in a police station?"

Castle sighed, holding is hands out, "I'm getting my research, I'm getting to help and my friends are here. For as long as it's feasible I'm happy to be here."

Abbott nodded, seemingly happy enough. Castle was the opposite; he was quite annoyed at the line of questioning. He was about to be a lot more annoyed.

"And Detective Beckett. You've taken a shine to her..."

"She's my muse. Though she doesn't like to be called that so I wouldn't use the term if I were you." Castle said, waiting for the inevitable 'what are you' question. They'd agreed to remain "just friends" for the purpose of the interviews. Castle knew he'd have to channel some of his mother's acting skill to pull that off.

"And that's all she is?" Abbot said looking up at him with his eyebrows raised, as if he was looking over a pair of glasses at him. Castle sighed.

"Yes, we work together, we're partners and we're friends," he said. He was going to add that it wasn't for the lack of trying but decided that less was more in situations like this. Abbott seemed to accept that because he moved on.

"You were the one who reopened her mother's case. Why?"

Castle sighed and shook his head.

"I didn't reopen it. I found some new information that I thought she should know. At first she didn't want to know and she kicked me out. After that, I left it alone until a case two years ago reopened it." he said solemnly. He still sometimes wished he'd never uttered those words 'it's about your mother.' Then again, would they have come as far as they had if he hadn't? Would they have grown as close if she hadn't found her way to trusting him about this?

"Her mother's killer is dead, why continue on the case?" Abbott said indignantly. Castle looked at him, eyebrows raised.

"Because no one has been brought to justice for it. Because it's her mother, and it means more to her than anything else," Castle said, amazed that this guy couldn't seem to see the human factor in this.

"What happened with Montgomery in the hangar?" Abbot asked quickly.

"I don't know," Castle replied just as quick. He wasn't going to fall for that one.

"Yes you do. Beckett's already told me anyway."

"We arrived late. Montgomery was already dead when we got there. It was a blood bath." Castle wasn't lying. He sometimes still got flashbacks of it. A thought suddenly occurred to him, "Why do you keep asking about Montgomery?"

"Because we're investigating him," Abbott said quickly.

"For what?" Castle countered.

"Corruption."

"Based on what?" Castle shot back. His mind was in overdrive now. Abbott looked up at him, quizzical look on his face.

"What?"

"Based on what? You've been asking us all about Kate's mother and her case, but at the back of it all you've been asking about Montgomery. Why?" Castle was already pushing the legs of his chair back. He needed to talk to Beckett. Abbott frowned.

"Mr. Castle, I ask the questions, thank you, and I'm not finished." he added as Castle stood quickly.

"I need to pee. You'll have to wait." He only barely heard the shout as he burst out of the interrogation room.

CASTLE. CASTLE. CASTLE.

They others looked up when Castle came storming out of the room. Beckett stood up, his name on her lips but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her into the locker room opposite her desk, closing the door and locking it behind him. Thankfully, there was a bathroom in there that he could say he was using.

"Castle, what the hell?" she said as he let go of her hand and reached into his pocket to take out his phone.

"How do they know about Montgomery?" he said suddenly and she frowned, before he continued frantically, pushing his phone into her hand.

"Mr. Castle! Your interview isn't finished. If you don't come out here now, you'll get a night in the cells..." Castle shook his head before yelling back.

"You better let me pee before that then!" he turned back to Beckett quickly and quieter, "How did they know about Montgomery? Everyone associated with this case that would know about his involvement, is dead. Except the people responsible." he raised his eyebrows and Beckett's mouth opened as if to say something. The door banged behind them again and Castle yelled that he was coming. He squeezed his phone in her hand.

"Check out my last few browsed items. I better go before he breaks the door down," he said before pushing her back out of sight and unlocking the door to walk out.

He was met by an angry Abbott and a confused looking trio behind him. He cleared his throat.

"Didn't even get to wash my hands," he said affronted while Ryan and Esposito sniggered behind Abbott, who did not look amused.

"I could have you throw in a cell for that. Failing to cooperate with an Internal Affairs investigation."

"Technically my bladder was failing to cooperate..." Castle pointed put with a smirk on his face. Abbott just scowled before turning and storming away back towards the interrogation room. Castle smirked at the other three before following the angry detective back to his interview. Abbott shot him a look as he passed in by him and Castle smirked again.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok, it cuts off kind of abruptly but the next chapter will deal with what Castle was looking at on his phone. There'll be some humour in that chapter and we might catch the rest of Castle's interview if it feels right. Will be a couple of days while I write._

_Please R and R. Thanks._


	15. Chapter 15

FIFTEEN

Beckett waited until Esposito knocked on the door to come out of the locker room, Castle's phone in her hand. She shook her head in disbelief.

"What the hell was that?" Gates asked and Beckett sat down at her desk, taking a deep breath before speaking. She explained what Castle had said to her about Montgomery, about the only way they could know would be if they or someone very close to them was somehow involved. Everybody else was dead. Gates had turned ghost white.

"You realise what you're saying here, Beckett? You're accusing the cops who think they're investigating dirty cops about dirty cops, of being dirty cops," she said, emphasising the last part. Beckett nodded her head.

"Yeah I know, it sounds like a plot from one of Castle's books," she said before taking out his phone and looking at it. Esposito asked her what was on it and Beckett explained how Castle had told her to look through his last browsed items.

"Zombie walking clowns?" she said as she opened his history on the browser, "I really hope this isn't part of his theory…" she trailed off as she saw the other two names below the zombie clowns. He must have been bored or nervous before his interview.

She tapped into the first page, balancing the phone in her hand while it loaded. She reached for a pen and a piece of paper to take down whatever notes of interest she came across. The next page made more sense to Beckett as a profile page for Commissioner Howard Smith showed up on the screen. She scanned through the page – he'd been assigned the role of commissioner about two and a half years ago and had since presided over a number of big cases, many of which Beckett had worked herself.

She sucked the top of her pen before pulling up his history page and going back to the previously visited page. This one brandished the profile and biography of Adam Ross-Ridley, or, as he was better known, Senator Ross-Ridley. And suddenly Beckett realised that she had seen the same name on the previous page. Pressing the Back button, she read Smith's profile again. He had been given the nod of approval and been championed for the Commissioner's job by the senator. Beckett frowned and clicked back to the page she'd been on and scanned the senator's history.

She wrote down a couple of points on the page and ignored the raised eyebrows and throat clearings by the other three. She scanned down through the senator's biography: _Adam Ross-Ridley (1/6/1953) graduated and joined the NYPD in 1974 at the age of 21….captain at the Seventh by 35…..Police Commissioner at 44…Senator at 54…. _Beckett stopped and began adding her numbers together.

"He was commissioner when my mom died," she said suddenly, writing down on the page, putting her thoughts together in the one place. Gates sat forward.

"What?" she asked, craning her head to see what was on the phone. None of the other three had tried to see what was going on, they knew that she would fill them in after she'd looked through it.

"Senator Ross-Ridley. He was Police Commissioner when my mother was killed. He was the senator who pushed and fought really hard for Smith to be assigned Commissioner three years ago, which incidentally coincided with the death of Dick Coonan. Think about it, dirty cops in 1999, who else could have known only someone else in the cops? Ridley went to Montgomery and McAllister and blackmailed them in order for them to keep their jobs. He thought that would be it, the end of it but then Castle dug deeper and it probably alerted them. The position arose and Ridley decided to champion his pal Smith, who he was in Seventh with. There were a few years between them but Ridley knew he could trust him. Or maybe he's blackmailing him too…" Beckett began to run out of breath as she spoke, and the others stopped her with shocked looks on their faces. She looked from Ryan and Esposito to Gates who looked even more worried than earlier. She looked around the room before leaning in closer, over the desk.

"Do you realise what you're saying Beckett? Who you're accusing? Not to mention the fact that you've no proof? Are you sure this isn't just Castle drawing dotted lines to coincidences?" Gates said quietly. Beckett swallowed.

"Is that what _you_ think?" she asked, but it wasn't in an aggressive or protective way. She asked it because she wanted to know if she was being deranged. Gates took a deep breath and shook her head.

"Look, I'm not dumb. I know how well he works theories and how astute he is but Beckett, I don't know what you can possibly do with this information. You've got to try finding proof but I don't even know where you start with that. You're definitely going to need not to be fired after today, I do know that much," she said sighing again. She stood and paced for a minute before turning to the three.

"Stay there and don't say a word more until I come back. I need coffee to think," she said, turning and heading for the elevator. Beckett watched her leave, her eyes pausing on the interrogation room door, wondering what the hell was taking Castle so long in there.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Since his return to the interrogation room, Castle had been quizzed further about Captain Montgomery and his arrangement with the Twelfth Precinct. Castle had calmly explained, three times, that he was friends with the mayor and he had pulled some strings.

"How did you uncover new information about Beckett's mother's case?" he asked suddenly and Castle quickly, mental-checked who he could and could not name before realising that if his haunch was right on these guys, he couldn't name anybody for fear that they end up dead.

"I did some Googling. Found out that around the same time as Beckett's mother's dead, a number of others were killed in the same way. But no one ever made the connection…"

"And during the case with Dick Coonan?"

"The ME twigged it. We all noticed it when we brought the body in, it was the same M.O. Every time Kate looks at a stabbing case she sees her mother," he shrugged, knowing that that part was true, whether she ever admitted it or not.

"You continued investigating after Beckett…_Kate _was shot last year. Why? What did you find?" he asked, emphasis on her first name. Castle shook his head.

"Nothing really. I just, I didn't know what else to do, I had to help in some way. And I tried to until Captain Gates kicked me out. By that stage, I hadn't heard from Beckett so I, I stopped. I couldn't do anything without access in the precinct and with no contact from her, I didn't know what else I could do…" he said, his mind harking back to the day she'd come to his signing and caught him by surprise.

"Why did she cut contact?"

"She needed space. She nearly died…"

"Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration," Abbott scoffed and that utterly annoyed him.

"No. It's not, she was close enough to dead in the ambulance. I watched her bleed out, I watched the life drain out of her so don't tell me it's an exaggeration because I god-damn watched it and for two months afterwards I watched it all over again, replaying in my head," he took a huge deep breath after the outburst, could feel his hands shaking. Abbott tilted his head.

"Why were you really investigating her mother's death?" he said slyly and Castle exhaled loudly.

"Jeez, you guys just don't quit do you?" he said defensively. Abbott smirked, crossing his ankle over his knee.

"You're in love with her, aren't you? You think that helping crack her mother's case will make her see the light, fall head over heels for you and you'll live happily ever after. I thought the book thing was just a narcissistic fantasy but it's not, it's a wish list…" He trailed off, shaking his head and laughing. Castle swallowed and remained calm. If Abbott thought Castle was a pathetic love sick puppy that worked. It gave him a sense of humanity but it also let them think that he was directed by his heart rather than his head. He looked away for a minute before asking if he could go. Abbott checked over his files before nodding his head.

Castle stood and didn't wait for any further permission before he exited. Abbott remained seated for a moment before gathering his files together and following him.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

The three in the Bull Pen looked up when Castle walked out. Beckett was about to speak when Abbott appeared behind so she said nothing but sat quietly, waiting for whatever pithy comment was going to come from the Internal Affairs detective this time. He stopped beside the table.

"Well, I've had an interesting day… You'll be hearing from me. If I need anything else, I'll arrange it through Captain Gates." That was it. No term of endearment, no thanks. He simply turned and headed for the elevator. Castle let out a loud sigh after the elevator door closed.

"I swear I am getting my name engraved over my mother's on her Tony Award…" he said as he leaned back against the desk. Beckett smiled at that. She was sure he'd fill her in later.

"Mr. Castle, I think you need to fill us in on your interview so we can plan our next step," Gate said suddenly and Castle nodded his head, about to open his mouth before Gates held up her hand.

"Not here. The evening shift is coming in and I don't want to risk this being heard. We need someplace with less ears." Castle nodded his head.

"I know just the place."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok, is it a bit ridiculous? It is really. But hopefully you can all overlook that to stick with me for another while._

_Thanks for all the Reviews. Appreciate all feedback, so please leave a few words, whether good or bad. Thanks._


	16. Chapter 16

SIXTEEN

Castle flicked the light switches as he pushed open the door to his loft, stepping back to let the others in ahead of them. They'd all been there before except for Gates. He gave Beckett a covert smile when she passed in by him.

He'd put forward his apartment as it was a secure building. There was no knowing if Maddox or whoever he worked for were still gunning for Kate or not but her apartment was definitely a dangerous place to put everyone who knew about the case in together.

"Well...it seems crime certainly does pay," Gates said, looking around her. Castle looked at her.

"Crime fiction, Castle, relax. I'm not going to start asking for your import documents," she said jokingly and Castle raised his eyebrows, refreshed by her sudden sense of humour. He chuckled and made for the kitchen putting on a kettle assuming that coffee would be everyone's drink of choice.

He started pulling down cups and the various things needed while the rest set up their files and related items on his coffee table. He smiled when he spotted Beckett moving the little dog statue that he'd found under the couch a few weeks ago, firmly cementing his belief that Alexis had had a party while he'd partied in Vegas.

When the coffee was brewed he brought it out with cups and milk, finding a spot on the edge of the table to rest it. Esposito made a comment about his domestication and Castle smirked.

"The ladies love a domesticated bachelor..." he joked, stealing a glance at Beckett who didn't seem to have acknowledged what he'd said. He pulled a spare chair from by the dining table and sat down among the group, Espo on his left, Beckett on his right. He poured for everyone else before filling his own cup.

He quickly briefed them on his interview, from Abbott's reaction to Castle questioning why he was quizzing them about Montgomery to his refusal to y anything about the night in the warehouse. He left out the bit about Abbott figuring out his motives for investigating Johanna Beckett's case.

"So, our best lead is a sitting senator," Gates said matter of factly. Beckett nodded. Castle jumped in.

"It makes sense initially because I know Smith contacted someone in Congress to make the deal for Kate's life. Sure, it could have been anyone and still could be but...awful lot of coincidences in the one place," he said shrugging. Gates nodded.

"I agree. But how do we go about investigating someone in Congress? We can't get a warrant on a hunch, not even your judge friends would sign that and besides, if this thing is as big as we think it'll be well hidden. We need some kind of solid proof before we can do anything..." said Gates.

"I could talk to Bob, tease him out. Ridley's a Republican so if there's anything there, he'll be only too happy to tell me," said Castle and Gates nodded.

"Yes, hopefully he'll talk to you. He might be a bit shy after his last run-in with us,"

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that. He doesn't hold a grudge. He knows we didn't really suspect him,"

Beckett shot Castle a glance at that one so he clarified: "Well, I didn't really suspect him. But Smith pointed out to me that Bob had to stay to keep me in the Precinct, and keep Kate off her mother's case."

Both Gates and Beckett looked at him.

"So you're saying that the Mayor might have been responsible for that murder?" Gates said and Castle shook his head.

"I don't think so. I think, number one, they wanted to derail Bob's running for president and the best way to do that was implicate him in something. But they also knew that they needed him remaining on as mayor so that I wouldn't get kicked out of the precinct. They wanted him tainted, but not enough for people to start calling for his resignation," he said, taking a sip of his coffee.

Gates nodded, "Makes sense."

She sighed and took a sip of her own coffee before turning to the others.

"Ryan, Esposito, look into both the Senator and Commissioners pasts. Pull police records, Google searches, whatever you need to do. I want as full and comprehensive history on both as you can get. We have to know who we're dealing with. We need to look into the possibility that maybe Commissioner Smith could be convinced to give us a confession in return for immunity. It could be that he was recruited because of a misdemeanour like Montgomery was," she said, putting her cup down on the coffee table. Castle motioned toward the coffee filter but she shook her head, standing.

"Beckett, I want you to remain on official leave for the week. If you come back now it'll look suspicious. Esposito, I want you back in on desk duty. If anyone asks, the team was short staffed and you've been smothered with boring paperwork. If they keep asking, you can refer them to me," she said, smiling, knowing that it would be a brave man or woman who would bother to discuss it with her. Esposito and Beckett both nodded.

"Castle, talk to the mayor, see what you can get from him. Keep me up to date," With that, the Captain took her coat in her hand and headed for the door, Beckett springing up to see her out.

Gates turned to face Beckett at the door.

"I don't suppose you were planning to go home anyway but I recommend you don't. Your apartment definitely isn't safe with Maddox still on the loose," she said quietly so the others couldn't hear. Beckett nodded her head.

"We'd decided that already. Well, no, Castle had and had browbeaten me into it but...you're right. It is too dangerous and...being honest? I'm kinda scared too," she said, biting her lip. Gates laid a hand on the young cop's elbow.

"Hang in there Beckett. We'll work it out," she was about to reach for the handle when the door opened from the other side, revealing Alexis and her friend Paige. She stopped when she saw the two women and three men further in, in the living room.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't realise everyone was here..." she said, hesitating but Ryan and Esposito had stood back in the living room area, leaving also.

"Hey little Castle," Espo said as he slipped past the women at the door out in the hallway, "We're the ones intruding. It's your house, kid." he grinned and Ryan appeared by his side.

"We'll be in touch," Ryan said before he and Espo headed for the elevator. Gates called to them to hold the lift before turning back to Beckett.

"Be strong Beckett. You've seen worse than this," she said before turning and following the others. Castle chuckled behind Beckett.

"Who'd have thought it, Gates has read The Iliad," he grinned, pulling the door closed after the two girls had come in. He turned towards the, giving Alexis a quick hug.

"Well Paige, how does it feel to be a graduate?" he asked, moving to the living room where Beckett was cleaning up coffee mugs. Paige grinned.

"It's great. I can't wait to go to college and meet cute guys," she said chirping and Castle rolled his eyes up to heaven. Beckett smirked over at Castle.

"What are you going to stay, Paige?" she asked, passing the tray full of mugs to Castle.

"Law. My parents are both lawyers and I've worked in their firm since I was 15."

"That's what I studied before I joined the Academy," Beckett said, smiling, "Enjoy it. It's tough but you'll be fine." she said, nodding. Alexis smiled before catching Paige's eye.

"We're going to go watch Tv in my room. Is it ok if Paige stays tonight?" Alexis asked quickly, foot already on the stairs. Castle nodded his head.

"Of course. One thing, if you girls are going out again tonight or tomorrow morning, let me know, ok?" he kept it purposefully vague and parent like. It he knew Alexis knew that he was saying it for a specific reason. She nodded, mentioned that they wouldn't be going anywhere and bid them both goodnight.

Castle dumped the dishes in the sink and snuck back out to the living room to find Beckett staring into space, mulling over the remaining coffee in her own cup. She didn't notice him as he stepped in behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"You ok?" he asked, dropping a soft kiss behind her ear, which tickled. She chuckled under his touch.

"I'm fine, I'm just thinking," she said, letting herself lean back against him. He rested his chin on her shoulder.

"About?"

"Everything, the case, you, everything," she said softly, grinning when she felt one of his hands venture lower down her body. He kissed her neck, her ear lobe, her cheek.

"Put the cup down, stop thinking and come to bed," he said, stepping back and taking her hand in his. It wasn't late but they'd been up early and the happenings of the day had exhausted them both. She placed her cup on his counter and followed him as he pulled her through the study and into the bedroom.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Sorry about the delay. Real life took over I'm afraid. I hope to update this more regularly in future but hopefully you are all still with me. Thanks for all review so far._


	17. Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

They awoke slowly the next morning, everything from the past few days was catching up on them and rather than getting up, they lay in each other's arms talking about everything and nothing.

"You ever think how different it might have been if I'd given in and slept with you after that first case?" Beckett said sleepily, tangling her foot between his two under the covers. He grinned and pulled her closer.

"You probably wouldn't be here today," he said, placing a kiss on her lips but she pulled back.

"What, you'd have got bored of me?" she asked in a serious tone and he shook his head.

"No. I mean, I wouldn't have got to know you properly. Yes, I was dying to sleep with you but...I was kind of a jerk back then and I was in that playboy phase so I don't think it's unrealistic to say you'd probably never have spoken to me again. And possibly have killed me," he grinned and she shook her head.

"You want to know something Castle? If you'd asked just once more that first day to have dinner with you, I probably would have," she said, smirking. He smiled and pulled her closer to him, pulling her leg up over his hip and turning her onto her back.

"Well, how about I ask now instead?" he said nuzzling his face into her neck, nipping and biting her collar bone and drawing a moan from her.

"I don't know Rick, you'll have to convince me…" she purred and he bit down a little harder on her neck as he shifted his body over hers, to settle between her thighs.

"You keep calling me Rick and you won't have a choice in the matter," he said breathlessly before pushing inside her, his lips find hers as he did, tongues mingling together in a soft slow kiss before he began to move inside her.

It didn't take long for her to reach her peak and her legs clamped around his waist as she rode out her climax, repeating his name over and over in his ear while he came behind her. He collapsed on her body, his breathing heavy and body feeling like jelly.

"You know, on second thoughts, with sex this good I would have kept chasing you long after that first case. Why didn't we do this four years ago?" he said resurfacing to kiss her eyelids, the tip of her nose and then her lips. She grinned up at him.

"Don't worry Castle, we can make up for lost time."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

He left her to shower while he went out to the kitchen to put on coffee and some breakfast for them. As he passed the living room, his hand landed on the remote and he turned on ABC News. He didn't know why he'd chosen now to turn it on, he never usually watched news channels. Later he'd wonder if it was his subconscious being telepathic, had he somehow, somewhere in the pit of his stomach, expected to be watching what came on as the main headline.

"…Our main headline again tonight, Justice Official in execution killing. A Department of Justice official has been shot dead in downtown New York. The man has been named as Walter Smith, a chief official in the Department…"

Castle glanced at the TV offhandedly as he was passing by and stopped dead in his tracks. The screen bore a photograph, a photograph which undoubtedly showed the face of his contact, Mr. Smith.

He swallowed hard as he read the digital ticker tape running beneath the story: execution killing, room ransacked, Justice official, investigation.

"Oh shit," he said simply before whirling on his heels and heading for the bedroom.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Beckett was in the middle of getting dressed when he burst into the room, searching for the remote for his TV.

"Castle, what's wrong?" she asked bemused by his sudden urgency. He found the remote and switched on the news station, standing for a minute while she listened to the story. She blanched when she heard the name, turning to him.

"Rick, is that…?" she asked even though she knew the answer. He nodded his head solemnly. She swallowed and finished getting dressed.

"Then there's nothing to stop Maddox from coming back for me," she said pointedly. He bit his lip.

"We need to call Gates, tell her what she's dealing with here. This could be out best way of linking it all back to Ridley," Castle said though the main thought running through his head was how to convince Kate to run. He knew she never would, that was why he didn't voice it aloud. She was nodding to his suggestion.

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go," she said standing up. He followed her out of the room. She was businesslike, something he loved about her. But not when he was trying not to imagine a bullet piercing her heart again.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

The Precinct was abuzz when they strode in off the elevator towards Gates' office. They knocked and on looking up she waved them both in. There was no sign of Ryan and Esposito had another three days of suspension. Or so he thought.

Gates had called Espo back to duty after the previous night's murder and her eyes widened when they gave her the information they had on the victim.

"Beckett, your week's suspension is lifted. I know you put in to resign but it will have to wait until after we solve this and hopefully see the sons of bitches behind your shooting behind bars. You're back too Mr. Castle, start calling your friends in high places and see what you can dig up on the Senator." It was all done quickly, like the flick of a pen. Just like that, Beckett was a cop again and now, more than ever, she realised that she had a job to do.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE


	18. Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

Castle skipped out for an hour that morning and went to meet the Mayor for coffee. He'd been reluctant to talk on the phone but was willing to do so until, on broaching the topic, Bob had suggested grabbing a coffee in City Hall.

Castle had said it quietly to Beckett, who'd explained the updates to the others.

"Do you think he's got something incriminating?" Beckett asked quietly, Castle sitting on the edge of his chair, close enough to smell her hair.

"I hope so. If he wants to talk in person, he's got to have something he doesn't want to risk getting picked up. He's paranoid since the murder investigation, must think someone is keeping an eye and ear on him," Castle said shrugging, before telling her he'd be back in an hour. She'd simply nodded and allowed her eyes to catch on his and in that moment he wished he could have kissed her right there and then but he knew she'd have killed him so instead he offered a quick smile and made for the door.

"Where's he going?" Espo said as he looked up from his desk.

"Follow a lead," Beckett said quickly and Espo nodded.

"Promising one?"

"Hopefully," she said as she thumbed through the police report of the murder.

"Hey," Espo said as he appeared next to her, in Castle's chair, "You know we've got your back, right? This guy, he's going down."

Beckett smiled at her friend's reassurance.

"Thanks Espo."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle was greeted in City Hall by Bob's PA, whose name he could never remember but who he was always the height of charming to. She'd given him her number twice but he'd never used it.

"Good morning, Mr. Castle. We haven't seen you for a while, keeping a low profile?" she asked good-naturedly. She'd obviously not been too annoyed when he hadn't called. She was remarkably beautiful and probably had hundreds of men lining up for her. He smiled.

"Keeping my ex-wife happy would be more accurate," he said smirking before noticing the look she gave him and correcting himself, "Oh, no, not in that sense. Ugh, no. In the publishing sense. Good god, I've got enough problems without _that_," he said jokingly, though they both knew he was being serious.

She pointed him towards the office door before calling after him that if he wasn't seeing his ex-wife he might call her sometime. He'd been about to explain why he wouldn't be calling but stopped himself, she didn't need to know. Instead he just said 'sure' and made his way into Bob's office.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Back in the Precinct, Espo had found a couple of interesting occurrences on his research into Ridley and the Commissioner. He'd pulled Beckett aside shortly after 11 and commandeered the break room to talk her through the files.

It turned out that in 1997, two years before Johanna Beckett's murder, Smith had worked a gangland case that had ended brutally in a stand off on a busy street one night at closing time. Party-goers had been pouring out of a nearby club when Smith, on the beat with another cop had tried to apprehend someone he knew to have gang ties.

"But get this, the guy pulls a knife and they fight. A guy coming out of the club, a 21-year-old law student in NYU comes over to try and break it up and gets stabbed in the process. He dies two days later but no one is ever questioned or held accountable for the crime. It gets pushed under the carpet, even though there were hundreds of witnesses…" Espo said, turning over the page.

"You think Smith screwed up and killed him?"

"You think it would have been brushed aside if he hadn't?" Espo retorted and Beckett raised her eyebrows. Probably not. She glanced back over some of the notes she'd made already.

"That happened in 1997, right around the time Ridley became Commissioner. He must have helped to bury the story at the time, but why? What would the connection have been then?" Beckett pondered and Espo shrugged.

"Police commissioner, looking after his own. Not unheard of Beckett," he said pointedly and she nodded.

"What else?" she asked, noticing the second file he was nursing. He pushed it forward, bearing the name Adam Ross-Ridley. Espo pushed it open and thumbed through a few pages before stopping.

"Ridley is not without blemish either but it was also covered up because his father, now deceased, was a senator at the time and was making a bid to run for President. He shot a fourteen year old kid on his bike up in Harlem thinking that it was drug dealer he'd been chasing. The family never saw any justice and no one believed them anyway so the story just died away," he said shrugging.

"How did you get it?" Beckett asked.

"There was one news reporter who picked up the story but when she handed it in, the paper wouldn't print it. I got it through some serious digging and cross running every instance in which this guy's name was in the press," he said triumphantly, Beckett not missing the part where he said the reporter was a 'she'.

"So you think Ridley found out about Smith and blackmailed him into covering his back for him?" Beckett asked, passing the files back to him.

"No," Espo said quickly, "I think he covered for Smith the first time and now it's good old fashioned back-scratching time."

Beckett nodded

"That might work for us. He has some twisted concept of propriety. Maybe we can convince him to turn Ridley into us," she said thoughtfully. Stranger things had happened. Though, she had to admit, not while Castle wasn't around.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

"So, what do you want to know about Adam Ross-Ridley? Other than the fact that he's a conniving Republican…" Bob said as he sipped his coffee. Castle leaned forward.

"Conniving? In what sense?" he asked, wondering if he was going to be that luck to have the chase cut to so soon.

"Well he's a Republican isn't he?" Bob replied and Castle laughed, picking up his coffee and knocking back a mouthful. He replaced it and was preparing to speak when Bob cut back in.

"Seriously though Rick, why are you asking about him?" he asked and Castle sighed. He'd been warned by Beckett not to give too many details away be as vague as he possibly could.

"We think he may be involved in some illegal and dodgy dealings," Castle said quietly and Bob scoffed.

"Ha, you're damn right he is. Rick that's not news to anybody in the Senate. He might as well wear a t-shirt."

Castle tilted his head and raised an eyebrow, inviting him to continue. Bob took a sip of his coffee and sighed.

"You know when my campaign derailed my first suspect was him. Still is. He's making big moves to run for President Rick. He's smart, conniving; he knows what issues to be loud on and which to just keep at arm's length. He could be a potentially dangerous opponent in the next election…" Bob pursed his lips.

"If you suspected that he had had something to do with Laura Cambridge's murder, why didn't you say something? Tell the cops?" Castle said but Bob just laughed.

"Come on Rick, based on what evidence? That he's a Republican. If I did have sufficient proof or evidence of motive or whatever it is, the rabbit hole the police would have gone down to chase him up would have fried their minds," he chuckled. There was a hint of bitterness but all in all Castle could tell that he'd made his peace with the fact that he was at the pinnacle of his career right here and now. He supposed Mr. Smith could be commended for that at least.

"Did you know the man they found dead this morning? Walter Smith?" he asked quietly and Bob nodded.

"Yes I did. Not well but I met him a few times on different committees. He always…had good ideas, seemed to be a man of morals, something the Justice Department sorely lacks at times," the mayor said in a melancholic tone. Castle nodded.

"What else was Ridley involved in?" he asked then, not wishing to dwell too long on Smith for fear that he'd give the game away as to how he knew him.

"I don't really know Rick. Bribery, extortion, murder, who knows? He's got a campaign team going round the clock at the moment preparing for his run for governor. You mark my words Rick, in five years time, he'll be their candidate for the Presidency. I don't know what you're trying to get him for, but you'd better catch him red-handed or you're on a road to nowhere."

Castle nodded and drained the last of his coffee mug, placing it down on the coffee table in front of him.

"One thing Bob, you suspected all of this. Why did you never go to someone about, someone who could maybe follow up some of your suspicions? Why leave it alone?" Castle asked as he stood. Bob stood as well, chuckling.

"Oh Ricky, that's politics man, someone is always screwing someone else."

Castle nodded ,shook his friends hand and made for the doorway. Just before he turned the door handle Bob called him back.

"Rick? For the record, I did have someone investigating Ridley. But unfortunately, that man was executed last night…Seems we're both on the right track," he said solemnly and Rick's eyes widened before he nodded his head and quickly left. The plot had just thickened again.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_Ok so I'm literally making this up as I write but this just flowed and felt good so hopefully I can make it make sense later on. Please R+R, love to see the comments of people who both like it and have suggestions for improvement._


	19. Chapter 19

NINETEEN

Castle's brain raced through hundreds and thousands of scenarios as he sat in the taxi back to the Precinct. How much more was Ridley involved in that they didn't know about? Were they literally only tipping the iceberg of his misdemeanours with Johanna Beckett's murder?

He'd text Beckett as he left the office telling her that he had news but would wait until he got there to tell her more. She'd simply replied that she had something too. Now he was sitting in traffic, willing the taxi to turn into the one from Inspector Gadget, shrinking so it could travel on the footpath.

Suddenly, his phone buzzed with an incoming call from an unknown number and he got an uneasy feeling in his stomach. From his experience the only people who had unknown numbers were government agents and murderers. He hit the answer button and said hello.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle raced in the Precinct, looking around for Beckett but seeing no sign of her, spotting only Gates hovering around by one of the other detectives' desks. There was no sign of Espo or Ryan either. She looked up when she saw him.

"Castle? Something up?"

Castle nodded his head, "Seriously up. Where's Beckett?"

Beckett, it turned out, along with Esposito had gone to follow a lead on Adam Ross-Ridley, the journalist who had given Esposito his original information on the case of the shooting in Harlem but they should have been back pretty soon.

"Spit it out Castle, you're like a hen sitting on an egg," Gates said and Castle shook his head, saying they should wait for everyone to be there before he gave the details. He sent Beckett a quick text and told her to get back as soon as she could. Gates headed for her office before turning back to him.

"You want to at least give me some idea of what we're looking at here?" she said quietly and Castle stepped closer to her.

"Kate may not be the only one in the crosshair," Castle began, taking a deep breath before adding, "Depending on what Walter Smith did or didn't bring to his grave with him, Mayor Bob Weldon could be in it too."

Gates' eyes widened, stepped back from the doorway and immediately picked up the phone.

"You can't call anyone on it, we don't know…"

"Beckett? Gates. Get back here immediately."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Castle was sitting in Beckett's chair when the elevator doors opened and she and Espo strode into the Bull Pen. She looked at him with slight worry on her face, which turned to a frown when she saw him sitting quietly, not messing with her computer or pushing papers around her desk.

"Castle? I got your message, what's going on?" she said softly, realising only as she got close to him that he looked a bit shell-shocked.

"You three, my office now." Gates voice rose above every other voice in the room and they immediately stood to follow the captain inside.

Castle talked them through his meeting with Weldon to start with, told them of his suspicions and beliefs before telling them about the bomb he dropped just as Castle was leaving.

"Depending on what Smith said last night, Bob could be in danger too," Castle finished before listening to Beckett and Espo reel off what they had learned from their research. Ridley, it turned out, had been fully pardoned for his mistake in Harlem and the story had never run because his father, a senator at the time, had too many media organisations in his pocket. In any event, the whole thing had been smothered and overshadowed by a bank heist in Central New York that took over TV and newspapers for two days.

"Surely that story will have to come out if he's running for governor? The papers will want all the dirt they can find," Castle said, hopefully. Gates nodded.

"It will, but a youthful indiscretion isn't going to be enough to tip this guy into a confession,"

"No," Castle said, "But I have something that might."

They all looked at him and he shrugged, muttering something about saving the best for last.

"I got a call in the taxi coming back over here. A man, no name, said to call him Jones. Wants to help us. He was a friend of Smith's and had been ordered by him to contact me, should anything ever happen to Smith. He's got copies of every file and document Smith ever had. They're being emailed through to me as we speak. They've also been sent to a number of secure servers and email addresses that I use. I don't know how legit this guy is but, whatever's on those files is worth a look," he finished as his phone pinged with a new email message.

Gates frowned as Castle opened the mail on his phone.

"If this guy has so much information, why didn't he make it public before now? Why give it to you now after he's dead? Why not just use it?" she asked, her head starting to spin from all of the complicated twists in the case.

"Because he didn't have it until Montgomery sent it to him. He made a deal with Ridley to save Kate's life but when she chased after Maddox, the deal was off. The fact that Smith was killed means all bets are off now, unless…" Castle trailed off, a thought suddenly occurring to him.

"Unless what, Castle?" Beckett said.

"Unless A. Jones has made a new deal or B. he's sent the files to us to either make a deal ourselves or sink them with them. Why else would he send them?" Castle said, trying to connect his phone to Gates' printer so he could start printing out the documents he'd just downloaded.

"He could be playing us all Castle. That information could be completely false for a start…" Gates said, "I'd like to know more about why your friend the mayor was having Smith investigate this guy."

"Well isn't it obvious? He thinks Ridley had Laura Cambridge killed. He might not say it but the motive's pretty clear, he wants revenge." Castle replied as the printer in the corner whirred into life and began to spit out sheets of paper, one after the other.

"Find out if he has a copy of this information Castle and find out what he intended to do with it if so," Gates said before standing and walking over to the printer to pick up the sheets that had printed so far. They were made up of various statements and correspondences between Ridley and Commissioner Smith and further documents, "And scan these with a fine-tooth comb. I want to know to know everything about this guy, everything right down to littering fines if he has them."

Esposito took the two stacks of the files, saying he and Ryan would look after them. Beckett swallowed, taking the third set and handing them to Castle before nodding and standing to follow the others out and into the break room where they commandeered the table.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

At around seven that night, Beckett left to go get pizza, despite Castle's protestations and offers to go.

"Castle, I can go across the street for pizza, I've got my gun in case the guy at the cashier tries to overcharge me," she said laughing, but Castle could tell she was tired. So far their file scanning had turned up more than enough to sink Ridley with, provided it was all true. Castle was due to meet Bob the following morning to find out what more he knew and the files were safely resting in a number of email and police servers for when they decided to use them.

Castle's eyes were getting tired and he eventually dropped the page he was looking through, checking his phone. Beckett had been gone about twenty minutes. It wasn't cause for concern but he found himself being over protective at the moment. Espo noticed it.

"Relax Castle, she's just across the street."

"I didn't say anything," Castle protested.

"Yeah, you were not saying very loudly," Ryan quipped, standing up, his neck cracking as he did. He headed for the door and quietly slipped out. It was almost too choreographed, Castle thought.

"So, I was talking to Lanie yesterday…" Espo began and Castle groaned. Espo continued, "She said things had…changed between you and Beckett," He looked up and Castle, taking a deep breath, nodded.

"Who else knows Javi?"

"No one bro, just me. I didn't tell Ryan because, well, we weren't talking until yesterday. But I wouldn't be a good cop if I didn't say this: you hurt her and I will kill you," Espo said without even the hint of a joke. Castle knew better than to doubt the man in front of him.

"Javi, you know I would never do anything to hurt her," Espo looked up at him on that one and Castle cleared his throat adding in "willingly". He looked down at the table before speaking again.

"Look Javi, I know that I have acted like a jerk at times over the past four years, I know that there have been times when I hurt her and maybe, if it had been someone else, hurt her beyond all repair, but believe me when I say that I'm not going to do it again. I think we're both done with tip-toeing around each other, and I am not going to do anything to screw that up," Castle spoke in his most solemn tone. None of what he was saying was a lie, it was all true and he knew that Espo knew that too. Damn it the whole Precinct knew, from day one, his interests in Beckett. And the whole Precinct followed, for four years, their saga, watched as his lust for her grew into love and the only one he couldn't see it was Beckett.

"I hear you bro. I'm just giving you the warning…" he trailed off as Beckett re-entered carrying three medium size pizza boxes.

"What warning?" she asked nonchalantly and Castle looked at Espo who grinned.

"I was just telling our boy here that I'd kill him if he hurt you. And also to use protection," Espo grinned while Beckett turned to Castle, eyes wide. He shrugged his shoulders, hands up in defence, "I didn't tell him!" he whined and Beckett's eyes narrowed. She looked back at Espo.

"Tell Lanie that that is the last time I share _any _gossip with her, ever again."

Esposito simply grinned.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

After another hour all four decided to call it a night. Espo and Ryan cleared out before the other two and while they sat there, Castle reached his hand over the table to clasp hers.

"Hey. Are you ok with Espo knowing about us?" he asked softly and Beckett nodded.

"Yeah. He's a friend, Castle and anyway if he hadn't realised it I would have been kinda disappointed in his detection skills," she grinned and he squeezed her hand.

"The rest of the Precinct will know soon enough anyway…" she said, squeezing his hand back. His head tilted, his eyebrows raised in a silent 'why? How?' She looked at him.

"Because you keep looking at me like someone who's seen me naked does!" she joked and he laughed.

"Well I could be just looking, wishing I could see you naked," he pointed out but she shook her head.

"No, there's a difference. It's in the lecherous smirk you get when you do it," she replied and he stood up, pulling her from her chair as he did. He pulled her close to him, not caring if there was anyone in the bull pen who might spot them.

"I didn't know I had a lecherous smirk," he said, his lips an inch from hers, "I'll have to watch out for that. Wouldn't want to give away our secret. It's much more fun when people are playing the 'have they/haven't they' game." He grinned and dropped a quick kiss on her lips. She smiled back at him.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

Both Alexis and Martha were away until Castle gave them the go-ahead to come back. He'd sent them out to L.A. as soon as he'd seen the news item about Mr. Smith. He didn't want to take any chances and he'd assured Alexis that the case was ending now. She'd tearfully hugged him and told him not to get killed because if he did she would summon him up from the dead so she torment him and tell him that he was a lousy father. He'd held her tight and told her it was a deal.

Castle grinned when he felt her hands on his back as he unlocked the door to his apartment, pushing the door open and letting her in ahead of him. He'd chuckled as he watched her sway her hips provocatively at him and followed in behind, swinging the door shut behind him.

He could just about make out a look of horror on her face as she turned back to him, before everything went black.

CASTLE CASTLE CASTLE

_A reviewer for the last chapter requested fluff so I tried to get that in here. I was also mindful of the fact that I was lacking action in the story so that's also come in here and in the next chapter. Thanks to all who're reading and reviewing so far. To those lurking in the wings, come say hello! Thanks. More soon._ow HHow sdfsdfsdfsldkfja;dsf


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